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Lowry,  L.  A.  d.l855. 

An  earnest  search  for  truth 


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AN       r    .DEC  20  1911 
EARNEST    SE  AK"^'^^ 


EOR  TRUTH, 


SERIES  OF  LETTERS 


FBOH 


A  SON  TO  HIS  FATHER. 


BY   THE 

REV.    L.   A.    LOWRY. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION, 

No.  265  CHESTNUT  STREET. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1852,  by 

Alexander   W.    Mitchell,  M.  D. 

In  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  for  the 
Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


Stereotyped  by  Slote  &  M coney,  Philadelphia. 


cntents. 


PAGE 

Introductory  Note, 7 

LETTER  I. 

Introductory  to  the  Series — Keasons  for  instituting 
an  earnest  search,  stated,   -----------    11 

LETTER  n. 

Theology  a  System  of  Truth — Starting  Point — Ori- 
ginal Sin — Condition  of  Man — Lost  in  the  Fullest 
Sense  of  the  Word — Position  of  the  Cumberland 
Church, 20 

LETTER  in. 

The  Cause  of  our  Fall — Sin  of  our  First  Parents^ 
Imputation — View  of  Clarke  and  "Watson — Con- 
sequences—A  Mountain  Pass, 32 

(3) 


CONTENTS. 


LETTER  IV. 


The  Remedy  Provided — Ambiguity  of  Terms — Three 
Views  of  the  Atonement — Early  Impressions — 
Position  of  the  Cumberland  Church — The  goal  to 
which  she  is  tending, 44 


LETTER  V. 

Application  of  the  Remedy — A  Painful  Conflict — 
A  Wrong  Course — Universal  Redemption — Uni- 
versal Grace — A  Gloomy  Prospect, 55 

LETTER  VI. 

Opposition  to  Calvinism — The  Big  Meeting — Armin- 
ian  Logic  and  Zeal,  ---------------    65 

LETTER  VIL 

Source  and  Evils  of  undue  Excitement — Human 
Ability — Sufficient  Grace — Same  as  Romish  Doc- 
trine— Difficulties  and  Absurdities  Involved,  -    76 


LETTER  VIII. 
Same  Subject  Continued—Christians  Deprived  of  all 


CONTENTS.  5 

Encouragement  to  Prayer — and  God  of  his  Glory, 
Authority  and  Power — God  Humbled  and  Abased, 
and  the  Sinner  Exalted, 86 

LETTER  IX. 

Same  Subject  Continued — Argument  from  Scripture 
— Covenant  of  Grace, 96 

LETTER  X. 

Same  Subject  Continued  —  Testimony  of  Familiar 
Passages  of  Scripture — A  Difficulty  Removed,  109 

LETTER  XL 

Arminian  Doctrine  of  Ability  Abandoned — Still 
in  the  Wilderness — Steps  Retraced — Calvinism 
Adopted  in  Full, 120 

LETTER  XIL 

Doctrines  Involved  in  those  already  Stated — Election 
— Definite  Atonement — Confirmed  by  Scripture 
— Objections  Ans-wered, 129 

LETTER  Xin. 

Another    Important   Doctrine — Decrees  of  God-^ 
1* 


6  CONTENTS. 

Feeling  of  Cumberland  Presbyterians— Statement 
of  the  Doctrine — Objections  Answered,  -  -  -  142 


LETTER  XIV. 
Summary  Propositions—Conclusion, 155 


INTRODUCTORY   NOTE. 


A  MISUNDERSTANDING  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  has  driven  many  good  and 
pious  people  from  her  communion.  A  blinded 
and  deeply  rooted  prejudice,  engendered  by  the 
ignorance  and  bigotry  of  her  enemies,  has  driven 
many  more  into  violent  opposition  to  her  interests. 
Some  have  taken  shelter  behind  an  Arminian 
creed.  Others,  driven  by  the  absurdities  it  con- 
tains, have  sought  a  resting  place  in  the  depths 
of  Pelagian  and  Semi-Pelagian  darkness.  Others 
again  have  sought  a  middle  way  between  Calvin- 
ism and  Arminianism,  thereby  hoping  to  avoid 
the  difficulties  of  the  one,  and  the  endless  contra- 
dictions and  absurdities  of  the  other.  The  latest 
of  these  theological  pioneers,  who  have  organized 
themselves  into  a  distinct  body,  are  the  Cumber- 
land Presbyterians,  who  date  their  existence  from 
the  commencement  of  the  present  century.  They 
claim  to  have  made  new  and  important  discoveries 

(vii; 


8  INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 

in  theology.  They  profess  to  have  solved  the 
problem  that  has  baffled  the  combined  learning 
and  genius  of  the  past — and  have  advertised  to 
the  world  that  the  middle  way  as  opened  out  by 
themselves,  between  the  conflicting  systems  of 
Calvin  and  Arminius,  is  both  a  practicable  and 
easy  route,  free  from  difficulties  and  dangers.  Fasci- 
nated by  the  peculiar  charm  of  the  name,  in  the 
commencement  of  my  ministry  I  entered  their 
ranks.  T  soon  found,  however,  every  possible 
variety  of  opinion  among  them,  which  it  was  im- 
possible to  harmonize.  They  had  a  Confession  of 
Faith,  it  is  true — a  mutilated  copy  of  the  West- 
minster— but  in  their  interpretation  of  this  there 
was  the  same  difference  of  opinion.  I  paused.  I 
asked  myself  the  same  question  that  had  been 
asked  repeatedly  by  others — where  is  the  middle 
way  ? — a  question  which  had  never  been  satisfac- 
torily answered.  I  resolved  to  make  it  the  fixed 
purpose  of  my  life  to  endeavour  to  clear  the  subject 
of  all  its  difficulties — to  examine  thoroughly  the 
groundwork  of  the  system  I  had  adopted — to 
survey  carefully  the  whole  field  of  speculative 
theology,  to  satisfy  my  own  mind,  and  point  out 
clearly  and  definitely  the  different  points  in  the 
middle  route.  The  nature  and  results  of  my  in- 
vestigations are  briefly  detailed  in  the  following 


INTRODUCTORY   NOTE.  » 

letters — the  publication  of  which  has  been  forced 
upon  me  by  a  combination  of  circumstances  over 
which  I  have  had  no  control. 

It  may  be  proper  here  to  state,  that  the  respected 
and  beloved  parent  to  whom  these  letters  are  ad- 
dressed, is  a  minister  of  the  gospel  in  the  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian  Church,  who  for  many  years 
acted  as  a  government  agent  and  missionary  among 
the  Winnebago  Indians.  He  is  at  present  pastor 
of  the  church  at  Lebanon,  Tennessee,  and  one  of 
the  associate  editors  of  the  "  Banner  of  Peace  and 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Advocate,''  published  at 
that  place.  A  more  painful  task  could  not  have 
been  assigned  me  than  to  address  a  parent  as  I 
have  done,  under  the  circumstances  to  which  allu- 
sion has  already  been  made.  Those  circumstances 
I  need  not  here  detail.  It  is  sufficient  for  me  to 
say  that,  in  all  that  I  have  done,  I  have  acted 
under  a  sense  of  duty,  and  in  the  fear  of  God. 

I  am  aware  that,  in  consenting  to  publish  these 
letters  in  their  present  form,  I  am  widening  the 
breach  that  has  already  been  made  between  my- 
self and  many  of  those  who  were  once  my  warmest 
friends.  They,  I  trust,  will  not  forget  the  bitter- 
ness of  the  assaults  that  have  been  made  upon  me, 
and  to  which  they  have  given  countenance,  im- 
pugning my  motives  for  following  truth  to  its 


10  INTRODUCTORY   NOTE. 

legitimate  and  final  results ;  and  for  giving  testi- 
mony to  those  doctrines  which  I  found,  after  ma- 
ture investigation,  to  be  revealed  in  the  word  of 
God,  and  confirmed  by  my  own  religious  experience. 
Jan,  1852.  L.  A.  L. 


AN  EARNEST  SEARCH  FOR  TRUTH, 


IN  A  SERIES  OF  LETTERS. 


LETTER  I. 


Dear  Father  : — I  had  hoped,  on  entering  the 
ministry,  to  find  a  permanent  and  congenial  home 
in  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  It  has 
been  my  ardent  wish  that  our  interests,  our  feelings, 
and  views,  in  our  ecclesiastical  relations,  might  be 
the  same,  and  our  labours  in  life  directed  to  the 
same  ends.  It  has  been  the  ardent  and  absorbing 
desire  of  my  mind,  and  the  devout  prayer  of  my 
heart,  that  I  might  be  permitted  to  labour  as  an 
ambassador  of  Christ,  side  by  side  with  an  aged 
parent ;  and  if,  in  the  order  of  nature,  called  upon 
to  witness  his  departure  from  earthly  scenes,  to 
receive  a  father's  mantle  and  a  father's  blessing. 
Nothing  I  can  assure  you  could  have  given  me 
greater  pleasure ;  no  earthly  consideration  could 
compensate  me  for  such  a  loss  j  the  imagination 

(11) 


12  "5  '  AN  EARNEST   SEARCH  FOR  TRUTH. 

itself  could  not  have  drawn  a  more  pleasing  and 
inviting  prospect;  the  brightest  of  all  earthly 
hopes  beside,  would  have  made  but  a  feeble  im- 
pression on  my  mind,  when  brought  in  conflict 
with  this.  But  it  is  not  in  man  that  walketh  to 
direct  his  steps.  God  in  his  providence  has  dis- 
concerted my  plans,  and  led  me  in  a  way  that  I 
knew  not. 

I  find  myself  in  another  branch  of  the  Church, 
whose  doctrines  by  the  great  mass  of  Cumberland 
Presbyterians  are  not  only  rejected  but  despised ; 
and  such  have  been  the  distorted  views  which 
they,  in  common  with  others,  have  taken  of  those 
doctrines,  their  opposition  has  often  ripened  into 
the  most  malignant  hostility.  Calvinism,  says 
Alexander  Campbell,  is  worse  than  atheism.  Cal- 
vinism, says  the  Methodist,  is  a  libel  upon  Deity — 
a  system  of  blasphemy  and  impiety.  Calvinism 
has,  I  fear,  said  a  loved  uncle,  who  has  gone  to 
his  rest,  and  was  once  a  co-labourer  with  yourself, 
done  more  injury  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  than  the 
dogmas  of  the  Romish  Church.  I  myself,  occu- 
pying the  same  stand-point,  once  indulged  similar 
feelings.  But  that  opposition  and  growing  hos- 
tility that  had  begun  to  take  root  in  my  mind,  re- 
ceived a  timely  check.  My  prejudices  have  all 
been  removed,  and  looking  out  upon  the  broad 


AN  EARNEST  SEARCH  FOR  TRUTH.    13 

ocean  of  trutli  from  a  new  and  more  elevated  point 
of  observation,  I  now  love  what  once  I  loved  to 
hate.  I  therefore  feel  it  to  he  my  duty  to  give 
a  full  statement  of  the  circumstances  that  have 
led  to  such  a  change ;  and  I  owe  it  to  myself  and 
my  friends  to  do  it  in  a  public  manner. 

I  shall,  in  a  few  communications,  endeavour  to 
disclose  to  you  only  what  shall  be  essential  to  the 
proper  understanding  of  my  own  position,  and  the 
position  of  the  Cumberland  Church  as  I  have 
viewed  it ;  and  I  think  that  I  have  had  every  op- 
portunity and  every  motive  to  judge  correctly  and 
impartially.  Situated  as  you  have  been  for  the 
last  eighteen  or  twenty  years  upon  the  extreme 
borders  of  the  north-west,  I  am  confident  that  you 
are  not  aware  of  the  position  the  Church  at  present 
occupies,  and  the  goal  to  which  she  is  tending. 
Anything,  therefore,  that  I  may  say,  I  trust  will 
not  be  construed  into  a  violation  of  any  filial  duty, 
or  want  of  a  proper  regard  for  the  feelings  of  a 
parent. 

Permit  me,  in  the  outset,  to  call  your  attention 
to  an  important  fact  which  you  have  doubtless 
often  seen  verified  in  your  intercourse  with  the 
world.  It  is  this :  Where  a  sect  or  party  have 
nothing  peculiar  and  distinctive,  of  a  positive 
nature,  of  their  own  to  present  to  the  mind  as  a 
2 


14  AX   EARNEST    SEARCH   TOR   TRUTH. 

basis  and  bond  of  union,  their  constant  aim  is  to 
tear  down  the  systems  of  others,  appropriate  to 
themselves  that  which  is  popular,  and  poison  the 
minds  of  the  weak,  the  disaffected,  and  ignorant. 

The  Church  furnishes  to  our  hands,  if  necessary, 
many  illustrations  of  this  truth.  In  every  age, 
some  sect  or  society  has  been  started  without  any 
fixed  or  well-defined  principles  of  its  own,  and  has 
enlarged  its  boundaries  in  no  other  way  than  by 
poisoning  the  minds  of  the  disaffected,  the  ignorant, 
and  the  credulous,  with  distorted  views  of  the  truth. 
Since  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  Calvinism  has 
been  the  watchword  of  alarm.  Opposition  has 
raged  and  waxed  hot  and  fierce,  till  the  enemies 
of  truth,  blinded  by  their  own  zeal,  have  been 
driven  to  the  farthest  extreme,  and  wrested  every 
important  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures  to  their  own 
destruction. 

We  have  a  painful  illustration  of  the  truth  here 
referred  to,  in  the  history  of  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  many  parts  of  the  country. 
When  they  first  made  a  start  toward  an  inde- 
pendent organization,  claiming  a  little  latitude 
only  on  one  or  two  points  of  doctrine,  they  repeat- 
edly sought  a  re-union  with  the  church  from  whieh 
they  had  been  cut  off;  but  having  failed,  they  ar- 
rayed themselves  in  direct  opposition  and  open 


AN  EAENEST  SEAUCH  FOR  TRUTH.    15 

hostility  to  tliose  at  whose  door  they  had  so  long 
knocked  for  entrance,  which  had  been  repeatedly 
and  emphatically  denied.  From  that  day  to  this, 
their  opposition  has  increased,  and  continues  to 
grow  with  their  growth,  and  strengthen  with  their 
strength.  There  is  an  obvious  reason  for  it;  yea, 
a  pressing  necessity  that  arises  from  the  want  of 
something  distinctive  to  present  to  the  minds  of 
those  upon  whom  they  would  operate.  They 
boast,  it  is  true,  of  a  ^'  middle  way ;"  but  nearly 
half  a  century  has  passed  since  the  discovery  was 
made,  and  it  has  not  yet  been  defined.  The  ma- 
jority of  those  who  are  esteemed  fathers  in  the 
Church  are  in  the  grave.  The  few  that  are  left, 
with  bending  and  tottering  steps,  are  at  its  entrance 
waiting  for  the  summons ;  and  yet  all  that  has 
been  effected  in  the  way  of  presenting  a  system 
of  doctrines  to  the  world,  has  been  a  mutilation 
of  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith.  This 
upon  the  floor  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Church  has  been  pronounced  with  emphasis,  "  a 
ragged  affair,"  because  it  savoured  too  much  of 
Calvinism.  Such  a  system,  call  it  by  what  name 
you  please,  will  not  answer.  A  man  may  patch 
his  garments  with  new  or  old  cloth  as  suits  his 
taste,  but  the  truth  in  which  the  soul  is  clad  must 
be  seamless — woven  from  top  to  bottom.     Princi- 


16  AN  EARNEST   SEARCH  FOR  TRUTH. 

pies  will  and  must  work  out  their  appropriate  and 
legitimate  results.  It  has  been  lamentably  true 
in  the  case  before  us ;  every  development  shows  a 
tendency  to  the  extremes  of  Arminianism.  I  will 
venture  the  assertion,  if  the  whole  can  be  judged 
by  those  with  whom  I  have  been  conversant,  that 
nineteen-twentieths  of  those  who  aspire  to  be 
teachers,  so  far  as  they  have  any  system  at  all, 
hold  to  all  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  save  the  doctrine  of  falling  from  grace 
and  sinless  perfection ; — the  latter  of  which  is  now 
practically  discarded  by  Methodists,  and  the  former, 
to  an  alarming  extent,  is  beginning  to  be  confirmed 
by  the  practice  of  Cumberland  Presbyterians  what- 
ever may  be  their  theory  upon  the  subject.  There 
is  nothing  distinctive  that  furnishes  a  bond  of 
union,  a  positive  influence,  or  an  attractive  force. 
Repulsion,  in  most  instances,  is  the  only  power 
that  can  effect  anything.  If  you  wish  to  operate 
upon  those  inclined  to  Methodism,  you  must  get 
up  a  noise  upon  the  doctrine  of  falling  from  grace, 
and  expatiate  largely  upon  the  beauty  of  perse- 
vering to  the  end  by  the  semi-omnipotent  self-mov- 
ing energies  of  the  will.  If  you  would  turn  the 
course  of  those  inclined  to  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
you  must  poison  their  minds  by  distorted  views 
and  caricatures  of  the  truth;   raise  the  cry  of 


AN  EARNEST  SEARCH  FOR  TRUTH.    17 

''atheism/'  "impiety/'  "blasphemy/'  "popery/' 
and  every  other  raw-head  and  bloody-bones  the 
imagination  can  picture.  I  speak  what  I  know, 
and  testify  what  I  have  seen  and  felt.  The  united 
voice  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Western  Penn- 
sylvania will  bear  me  witness,  that  this  was  the 
mode  of  operation  practised  by  those  who  com- 
menced their  labours  there  as  "missionaries/' 
who  made  their  boasts  that  in  a  few  years  not  a 
"  grease  spot"  of  Calvinism  would  be  left  to  tell 
posterity  of  its  signal  overthrow.  Innumerable 
changes  were  rung  upon  the  doctrines  of  "  election/' 
"  predestination/'  "  reprobation/'  "  infant  damna- 
tion/' and  every  thing  else  out  of  which  any 
capital  could  be  made ;  insomuch  that  if  it  were 
possible  the  very  elect  would  have  been  deceived. 
Their  success  for  a  time  was  unparalleled ;  but 
like  every  thing  else  of  the  kind,  there  was  no 
depth  of  root,  and  the  churches  thus  planted  soon 
began  to  show  visible  marks  of  decay.  As  the 
eyes  of  the  community  were  opened,  the  repulsive 
force  they  had  succeeded  in  producing  in  the 
minds  of  many  ceased  to  operate,  and  they  were 
shorn  of  their  strength.  Repeated  efforts  have 
since  been  made  to  stir  up  the  minds  of  the  people 
in  opposition  to  Calvinism  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  but  to  no  purpose.  Every  means  and 
2* 


18  AN   EARNEST    SEARCH   FOR   TRUTH. 

every  energy  has  been  applied,  but  nothing  of  any 
consequence  has  been  efFected.  They  have  piped 
long  and  loud,  but  nobody  has  danced;  from  morn 
till  night,  as  the  children  in  the  market-place, 
they  have  mourned,  but  nobody  has  lamented. 

At  such  a  crisis,  a  new  occasion  is  offered,  and 
a  new  theme  presented,  by  which  to  stir  up  the 
minds  of  the  people,  and  drive  the  alarmed  and 
scattered  flocks  together.  A  young  man,  whom 
they  had  honoured  with  one  of  their  most  import- 
ant stations,  is  led,  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  by 
careful  steps,  to  embrace  the  despised  and  rejected 
doctrines  of  grace.  Something  must  be  done  to 
counteract  the  moral  effect  of  such  a  change  upon 
the  minds  of  the  community  and  the  church 
abroad.  They  must  make  an  effort  to  ruin  his 
character ;  they  must  try  to  make  it  appear  that 
the  Presbyterians  have  taken  to  their  bosom  ^'  a 
hypocrite,"  "^  renegade,''  "a  wolf,''  "a  viper;" 
they  must  summon  rumour  with  her  thousand 
tongues,  and  accuse  him  of  all  manner  of  evil ; 
they  must  heap  upon  him  all  kinds  of  epithets ; 
brand  him  with  all  manner  of  infamy ;  and  throw 
as  much  odium  and  suspicion  on  his  path  as  pos- 
sible. 

I  myself  was  the  person  thus  assailed.  I  have 
borne  it  all  in  silence  that  they  might  have  a  prac- 


AN  EARNEST  SEARCH  FOR  TRUTH.     19 

tical  demonstration  of  their  littleness  and  folly. 
My  object  has  been  accomplished;  their  shafts 
Lave  returned  to  their  own  bosoms.  I  shall  dis- 
miss all  that  has  been  said  and  done  of  a  personal 
nature,  by  referring  them  to  an  important  prin- 
ciple laid  down  by  one  who  knew  perfectly  the 
hearts  of  men:  '^Eveiy  one  that  doeth  evil/'  says 
Christ,  ^^  hateth  the  light,  neither  cometh  to  the 
light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved.  But  he 
that  doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his 
deeds  may  be  made  manifest  that  they  are  wrought 
in  God."  Johniii.  20,  21.  In  their  deeds  of  dark- 
ness let  this  be  their  condemnation. 

Your  affectionate  Son. 


LETTER  II. 

THEOLOGY  A  SYSTEM  OF  TRUTH — STARTING  POINT 

ORIGINAL    SIN — CONDITION   OF   MAN — LOST 

IN   THE   FULLEST   SENSE   OF  THE  WORD — POSI- 
TION OF  THE  CUMBERLAND  CHURCH. 

Dear  Father: — One  of  the  earliest  impres- 
sions made  upon  my  mind,  in  entering  upon  the 
study  of  theology,  was  that  it  was  a  system  of 
truth,  as  all  other  branches  of  knowledge — of  re- 
vealed truth,  having  the  Spirit  of  God  for  its  au- 
thor, whose  different  parts  are  connected  together 
by  a  logical  sequence,  as  inseparably  as  cause  and 
effect,  that  link  together  the  phenomena  of  the 
natural  world.  It  will  not  be  my  object,  by  any 
means,  to  develop  the  varied  phases  and  elements 
of  that  system,  in  their  different  relations  and 
consequences.  Such  a  task  would  ill  become  a 
son,  in  addressing  a  father  whose  life  has  been 
spent  in  the  active  duties  of  the  ministry.  I  shall 
only  aim  to  disclose  to  you  the  workings  of  my 
own  mind  upon  some  of  the  leading  doctrines  of 
the  gospel ;  and,  with  all  due  filial  regard,  to  call 
(20) 


THEOLOGY  A  SYSTEM  OF  TRUTH,  &C.   21 

your  attention  to  the  untenable  and  undefinable 
ground  occupied  by  the  Cumberland  Church.  It 
is  a  painful  task,  I  can  assure  you,  but  it  is  one 
that  a  high  sense  of  duty  impels  me  to  perform. 

In  order  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  gos- 
pel plan  of  salvation,  the  system  of  truth  revealed 
in  the  Scriptures,  we  must  examine  well  the  dis- 
ease for  which  it  is  provided ;  we  must  probe  to 
the  bottom  the  subject  of  human  depravity,  its 
nature,  its  origin,  and  results.  It  is  one  of  those 
doctrines  about  which  the  student  of  theology,  the 
well  instructed  scribe,  and  even  private  member  of 
the  church,  must  have  clear,  well-defined,  and  cor- 
rect views.  A  single  mistake  here  will  vitiate  the 
whole  scheme  of  salvation,  both  in  theory  and 
practice.  You  have  already  examined  it,  and 
know  its  importance;  I  shall  therefore  simply 
glance  at  some  of  its  more  prominent  features, 
which,  in  the  outset  of  my  theological  studies,  I 
marked  as  the  necessary  ground-work  of  a  system 
of  grace. 

*'The  sinfulness  of  the  estate  whereinto  man 
fell,"  says  the  Shorter  Catechism,  ^'  consists  in 
the  guilt  of  Adam's  first  sin,  the  want  of  original 
righteousness,  and  the  corruption  of  his  whole 
nature — which  is  commonly  called  original  sin — 
together  with  all  actual  transgressions  which  pro- 


22  ORIGINAL   SIN. 

ceed  from  it."  Here  tlien  is  the  disease  for 
which  the  gospel  remedy  was  provided.  It  in- 
cludes three  alarming  symptoms,  under  the  head 
of  original  sin.  1.  The  guilt  of  Adam's  first  sin, 
which  has  come  upon  us  in  view  of  a  covenant 
arrangement.  2.  The  want  of  original  righteous- 
ness, such  as  the  creatures  possessed  in  a  state  of 
innocency.  3.  The  corruption  of  our  whole  na- 
ture. Our  personal  transgressions  may  also  be 
included  in  the  disease-,  but  they  are  more  pro- 
perly the  result  or  acting  out  of  our  corrupt 
nature.  They  come  from  it  as  the  fruit  from 
the  tree,  or  as  the  stream  from  the  fountain. 
Matt.  XV.  19. 

The  immediate  and  remote  consequences  of  this 
estate  of  sin  into  which  we  have  fallen,  so  far  as 
they  relate  to  our  happiness,  are  thus  briefly  and 
forcibly  stated  :  '^All  mankind,  by  their  fall,  lost 
communion  with  God,  are  under  his  wrath  and 
curse,  and  so  made  liable  to  all  the  miseries  of 
this  life,  to  death  itself,  and  to  the  pains  of  hell 
for  ever."  Such  is  the  language  of  the  Shorter 
Catechism,  both  of  the  "Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith,  and  also  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Confession  as  extracted  from  it.  I  have  made 
the  quotation,  not  with  a  view  of  discussing  at 
any  length  the  different  points  introduced,  but 


ORIGINAL    SIN.  23 

Bimply  that  the  reader  may  see  the  position  the 
Cumberland  Church  once  occupied,  and  contrast 
it  with  the  goal  to  which  she  is  now  tending,  as 
regards  the  first  elementary  principles,  the  very 
ground-work  of  the  whole  gospel  scheme.  I  shall 
only  glance  at  some  of  the  more  prominent  fea- 
tures of  the  subject,  which,  if  properly  appre- 
hended, will  necessarily  lead  to  correct  views  of 
all  the  others. 

There  is  a  single  word  that  embodies  in  its 
meaning  the  whole  subject ;  a  word  which,  if  pro- 
perly understood  and  felt,  would  break  down 
many  of  the  barriers  that  now  divide  the  Church. 
It  is  found  in  the  reply  of  our  Saviour  to  those 
who  complained  of  his  being  a  guest  with  "a 
sinner.^'  "  The  Son  of  man,"  said  he,  "is  come 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  Luke 
xix.  10.  This,  you  recollect,  was  the  passage 
assigned  me  to  write  upon,  when  I  placed  myself 
under  the  care  of  Presbytery.  It  led  my  mind 
into  an  easy  and  natural  train  of  thought;  and 
the  opinions  I  then  formed  have  remained  with 
me  to  the  present  time.  They  constituted  the 
foundation  upon  which  I  endeavoured  to  build  an 
Arminian  structure  that  fell  before  it  was  com- 
pleted, and  upon  which  I  now  stand,  under  "a 
covert'^  and  a  "  hiding-place/'  formed  of  more 


24  CONDITION   OF   MAN, 

durable  materials.  Man  I  regarded  as  lost,  in 
every  possible  sense  in  which  the  word  can  be 
used.  This  view  is  one  I  found  not  only  revealed 
in  the  Scriptures,  but  confirmed  by  reason,  by 
facts,  and  personal  observation.  In  whatever 
situation  of  life  we  find  him,  at  whatever  period 
of  his  existence  since  the  fell,  in  all  countries 
and  ages,  he  has  been  found  to  be  lost  in  the 
highest  and  fullest  meaning  of  the  word.  At  all 
times,  and  under  all  circumstances,  the  same 
alarming  symptoms  have  prevailed. 

Lost  as  an  intellectual  being. — The  light  of 
nature,  of  science,  and  philosophy,  with  all  the 
boasted  wisdom  of  man,  have  been  inadequate  to 
penetrate  the  mists  and  the  darkness  that  shroud 
the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future.  The 
strange  enigma  of  life,  of  death,  of  the  provi- 
dences of  God,  of  human  miseries,  and  the  com- 
plete wreck  of  high  moral  capabilities,  have, 
under  all  circumstances,  transcended  the  limited 
and  paralyzed  faculties  of  the  human  mind. 
"Where  am  I? — what  am  I? — whence  came  I? — 
and  why  the  deep  yearnings  of  the  soul  for  some 
object  of  religious  worship,  where  there  is  none  but 
the  wood  and  the  stone,  the  workmanship  of  the 
creature^s  hands?  When  such  questions  as  these 
arise  from  the  great  deep  of  our  hearts  where 


CONDITION  OF  MAN.  25 

shall  we  go  for  a  response?  Nature  is  silent, 
science  is  dumb,  and  reason  and  philosophy  only 
serve  to  bewilder,  and  render  more  gloomy  and 
dark  the  mystery. 

Lost  too  as  a  moral  being. — He  is  declared  in 
the  Scriptures  of  divine  truth  to  be  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  in  sins  j  lost  to  a  knowledge  of  God^ 
and  consequently  to  all  holiness  of  character. 
'^  The  Lord  looked  down  from  heaven,"  says  the 
Psalmist,  "upon  the  children  of  men,  to  see  if 
there  were  any  that  did  understand  and  seek  G-od. 
They  are  all  gone  aside ;  they  are  altogether  be- 
come filthy :  there  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no, 
not  one."  Ps.  xiv.  2,  3.  There  is  no  possible 
qualification  of  the  sad  truth.  We  are  bom  in 
sin,  conceived  in  iniquity,  the  whole  head  is  sick, 
the  whole  heart  is  faint,  and  all  the  affections  of 
our  carnal  nature  are  alienated  from  God,  and  at 
enmity  against  him.  The  verdict  the  apostle 
Paul  brought  in,  after  the  most  careful  and 
masterly  review  of  the  condition  of  the  world  in 
his  day,  was  expressed  in  the  strongest  possible 
terms ;  from  which  he  draws  the  conclusion,  that 
when  the  hearts  and  the  lives  of  all  who  are 
under  the  law  shall  be  tried,  by  the  proper  tri- 
bunal, "  every  mouth  shall  be  stopped,  and  all  the 
world  become  guilty  before  God.''  Rom.  iii.  19. 
3 


26  CONDITION  OP   MAN. 

Bat  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  this  point.  You 
have  been  sufficiently  thrown  into  scenes,  both  of 
savage  and  civilized  life,  to  have  had  a  practical 
exhibition  of  the  moral  character  and  condition 
of  the  human  heart  in  every  conceivable  light ; 
and  I  presume  that  the  great  mass  of  Cumberland 
Presbyterians  will  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of 
human  depravity,  to  its  fullest  extent,  if  you  will 
allow  them  the  privilege,  in  common  with  all 
others  who  hold  to  Arminian  sentiments,  of  stop- 
ping short  of  the  legitimate  consequences  to 
which  it  leads.  A  man  must  be  under  a  strange 
aberration  of  mind,  who  knows  anything  of  him- 
self or  his  kind,  who,  for  a  moment,  can  doubt 
the  teachings  of  the  Bible  upon  this  subject, 
taking  its  language  in  the  most  unqualified  sense, 
and  in  its  strongest  meaning.  This,  however,  is 
but  a  part  of  the  subject,  and  gives  us  but  a  par- 
tial and  imperfect  view  of  the  condition  of  man  aa 
affected  by  the  fall. 

He  is  lost  also  as  a  subject  of  the  divine  gov- 
ernment.—This  follows  as  a  necessary  consequence, 
from  the  moral  state  of  his  heart  developing  itself 
in  his  life,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  divine  gov- 
ernment and  the  character  of  God.  ^'  The  Lord 
hath  spoken,"  says  the  prophet  Isaiah,  '^  I  have 
nourished  and  brought  up  children,  and  they  have 


CONDITION  OP  MAN.  27 

rebelled  against  me."  Isa.  i.  2.  It  is  in  this  cor- 
rupt and  rebellious  state  that  man  is  met  by  the 
eye  of  infinite  purity  and  justice;  his  acts,  his 
feelings,  and  the  moral  state  of  his  heart,  are  all 
condemned,  and  the  solemn  curse  of  a  broken  and 
inflexible  law  pronounced  against  him.  Upon 
this  point  also  I  imagine  we  agree.  Your  views 
of  the  holiness  of  God,  of  the  nature  of  sin,  of  the 
operations  of  the  divine  government,  and  the  con- 
sequent condemnation  of  the  sinner,  are  thus  far 
the  same  as  my  own,  and  such  as  a  careful  examin- 
ation will  lead  every  mind  to  adopt.  But  there 
is  yet  another  important  aspect  in  which  the  sub- 
ject is  to  be  viewed,  and  concerning  which  our 
ideas  must  be  clear  and  well-defined. 

The  ruin  of  man  is  not  complete  until  we  have 
carried  our  investigations  still  further.  He  can- 
not in  any  proper  sense  of  the  word  be  said  to  be 
lost  until  we  can  give  an  affirmative  answer  to  the 
following  question :  Would  it  have  been  Just,  on 
the  part  of  God,  to  have  left  man  in  his  estate  of 
condemnation  loithout  a  Redeemer  ?  A  more  im- 
portant question  could  not  be  asked  in  the  outset 
of  one's  inquiries  after  truth;  it  involves  much 
that  is  vital,  and  furnishes  an  infallible  test  of 
one's  theological  creed.  The  Arminian,  for  ex- 
ample, denies,  and  builds  upon  his  denial  a  system 


28  CONDITION   OF   MAN. 

that  is  destructive  of  every  principle  of  grace  and 
love  revealed  in  the  gospel,  and  degrades  the  gift 
of  eternal  life  to  a  debt  that  God  owed  the  crea- 
ture for  injuries  he  had  received.  The  Calvinist, 
on  the  other  hand,  affirms,  and  builds  upon  his 
affirmation  a  system  alike  honouring  to  God  and 
humbling  to  man;  that  magnifies  the  grace  of 
God,  and  traces  every  offer  of  life,  and  every  bless- 
ing bestowed,  to  the  boundless  and  unfathomable 
love  of  the  divine  bosom,  whose  height,  and 
depth,  and  length,  and  breadth  an  inspired 
apostle  could  not  measure.  To  this  latter  view 
I  early  and  readily  gave  assent.  It  was  the  in- 
stinctive feeling  of  my  heart ;  and  if  there  is  a 
truth  within  the  lids  of  the  sacred  volume,  it  is 
the  feeling  of  every  believer  in  his  devotional 
moments,  whatever  may  be  his  speculations  when 
ti'ying  to  bolster  up  a  tottering  and  falling  creed. 
You  will  pardon  the  unqualified  expression,  for 
I  know  that  your  heart  and  faith  cannot  be  other- 
wise than  with  me  here  also.  Struggling  as  you 
have  been,  for  the  last  eighteen  or  twenty  years,  to 
elevate  the  darkened  mind  of  the  savage  to  a 
knowledge  of  gospel  truth,  you  will  not  hesitate, 
I  trust,  to  adopt  the  strongest  language  of  the 
Scriptures  on  this  subject,  as  applicable  to  man  in 
all  his  relations. 


CONDITION  OF  MAN.  29 

Here,  then;  briefly  is  the  condition  of  man 
since  the  fall ;  his  ruin  is  complete ;  he  is  lost  in 
the  fullest  sense  of  the  word — intellectually, 
morally  and  legally ;  is  justly  condemned,  and  by 
nature  a  child  of  wrath;  the  consequences  of 
Adam's  first  sin  are  upon  him ;  he  is  destitute  of 
original  righteousness;  his  whole  nature  is  cor- 
rupt, and  his  whole  life  is  but  the  acting  out  of 
that  nature;  he  has  lost  all  "communion  with 
God,'^  the  only  source  of  life  and  happiness;  is 
under  "  his  wrath  and  curse,"  and  "  made  liable 
to  all  the  miseries  of  this  life,  to  death  itself,  and 
the  pains  of  hell  for  ever ;''  and  were  the  darkness 
of  the  pit  for  ever  to  close  upon  him,  without  even 
the  offer  of  salvation,  the  character  of  God  would 
be  untarnished ;  he  would  still  be  holy,  just  and 
true ;  and  the  hosts  of  heaven  would  still  mingle 
their  responsive  notes  of  praise  around  the  eternal 
throne  unto  him  that  lives  and  reigns  for  ever. 
No  other  view  of  the  lost  and  ruined  condition  of 
man  can  furnish  the  shadow  of  a  foundation  upon 
which  to  build  a  system  of  grace,  of  mercy,  and 
love.  There  is  no  room  for  either,  if  God  is  a 
debtor  to  us  instead  of  our  being  bankrupt  and 
debtors  to  him.  It  was  this  view,  I  say,  of  our 
estate  of  sin  and  misery  that  I  adopted  in  the 
outset  of  my  investigations.     Any  other  I  found 


30        POSITION  OP  CUMBERLAND   CHURCH. 

would  destroy  every  principle  of  vitality  the 
gospel  possessed.  It  is  a  view,  too,  pregnant 
with  consequences  of  the  first  importance  in  a 
consistent  theological  system;  consequences  im- 
mediate and  remote,  which  must  sooner  or  later 
force  themselves  upon  the  con\^ction  of  every  in- 
vestigating mind.  In  fact  in  it,  as  the  foundation, 
is  necessarily  involved  the  character  of  the  whole 
superstructure;  and  were  there  no  other  revela- 
tion on  the  subject,  but  that  ^^  the  Son  of  man  is 
come  to  seek  and  save  that  which  was  loBty'  it 
would  be  enough ;  for  from  this  may  be  evolved, 
by  a  clear  and  logical  sequence,  every  important 
doctrine  of  the  gospel.  Some  of  these  doctrines 
I  will  endeavour  to  exhibit  in  their  proper  place. 
I  will  close  this  communication  with  a  single 
request.  I  would  most  earnestly  and  afi"ection- 
ately  ask  of  you  to  consider  well  the  importance 
of  the  view  presented,  and  mark  the  position  oc- 
cupied by  the  Cumberland  Church.  Principles, 
I  have  said,  will  and  must  work  out  their  appro- 
priate results;  and  none,  perhaps,  involve  more 
than  the  question  as  to  the  justice  of  God  in 
leaving  man  in  his  estate  of  sin  and  misery,  into 
which  he  is  introduced  by  the  fall.  Where,  I 
ask,  is  the  Cumberland  Church  upon  this  point  ? 
They  are  not  upon  Calvinistic  ground ;  they  have 


POSITION   OP   CUMBERLAND   CHURCH.         31 

not  struck  out  any  new  path,  or  made  any  new 
discoveries ;  but  have  taken,  as  in  all  their  travels, 
the  beaten  road  of  Arminianism,  their  Confession 
of  Faith  and  Shorter  Catechism  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.  It  is  painful  to  see  them  in 
the  dim  distance,  with  new  names  upon  their 
banners,  and  boasting  of  a  middle  theology,  thread- 
ing their  way  upon  the  very  heels  of  the  followers 
of  Wesley.  It  is  painful  to  see  them,  in  different 
parts  of  the  country,  indulging  in  the  most  bitter 
abuse  of  Presbyterians  and  Methodists,  and  yet 
not  having  a  foot  of  ground  between  the  two  that 
they  can  caU  their  own.  It  will  not  do.  A 
Church  that  takes  as  its  starting  point  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  offer  of  salvation  is  a  debt  instead 
of  a  free  gift,  must  in  the  end  find  themselves  in 
Arminian  ranks  upon  the  mountains  of  Edom,  or 
their  carcasses,  to  the  latest  generation,  will  be 
left  in  the  wilderness  as  a  memorial  of  their  folly. 
This  conviction  early  forced  itself  upon  my  mind; 
but  I  hoped  to  find  the  middle  way  leading  off 
from  some  other  point. 

Your  affectionate  Son. 


LETTER  III. 

THE  CAUSE  OF  OTTR  FALL — SIN  OF  OUR  FIRST  PA- 
RENTS— IMPUTATION — VIEW  OP  CLARKE  AND 
WATSON — CONSEQUENCES — A  MOUNTAIN  PASS. 

Dear  Father  : — The  view  I  have  presented 
of  the  moral  condition  of  man,  is  one  that  I  found 
upon  the  very  surface  of  the  sacred  page ;  one, 
too,  that  entered  into  all  my  religious  feelings; 
and  it  is  a  view  that  must  find  its  way  to  every 
heart  that  is  properly  exercised  under  the  in- 
fluence of  gospel  truth.  It  is  not  until  the  sin- 
ner is  brought  to  feel  his  condition  as  one  that  is 
lost,  in  all  its  force,  that  he  is  prepared  to  feel  his 
need  of  a  Redeemer ;  it  is  not  until  then  he  is 
prepared  to  pray  the  prayer  of  the  publican,  and 
receive  pardon  and  life  as  the  gift  of  God. 

I  am  confident  that  you  will  concur  with  me  in 
the  sentiment  here  expressed.  But  there  is  an 
important  doctrine  involved  as  its  direct  and  im- 
mediate consequence,  which  is  essential  to  a  cor- 
rect theoretical  knowledge  of  the  plan  of  salva- 
tion; a  doctrine  about  which  there  has  been 
(32) 


IMPUTATION.  33 

mucli  counsel  darkened  by  words  without  know- 
ledge, and  which  in  my  early  investigations  of 
truth  gave  me  many  a  painful  struggle,  and 
against  which  I  contended  for  a  time  with  a  more 
determined  and  bitter  opposition,  than  against 
any  other  in  the  Calvinistic  system. 

If  all  are  born  in  sin,  and  thus  brought  into 
the  world  in  a  state  of  condemnation,  a  question 
naturally  arises  as  to  the  cause  of  such  a  state  of 
things  in  the  government  of  a  wise,  a  holy,  and 
beneficent  Being,  who  is  infinite  in  all  his  attri- 
butes. Revelation  alone  can  solve  the  difficulty. 
"  By  one  man,^'  says  Paul,  "  sin  entered  into  the 
world,  and  death  by  sin;  and  so  death  passed 
upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned."  Rom. 
V.  12.  Back  of  this,  however,  is  another  ques- 
tion, which  must  be  clearly  and  definitely  an- 
swered before  we  have  advanced  a  single  step. 
Upon  what  principle  are  we  made  sinners  by  the 
"one  man,"  and  our  destiny  thus  linked  with 
his  ?  In  other  words,  what  is  the  relation  we  sus- 
tain to  him  that  furnishes  a  reasonable  ground  for 
involving  us  in  the  consequences  of  his  first  trans- 
gression ?  Both  the  Calvinist  and  Arminian  agree 
in  considering  it,  in  some  sense,  a  federal  relation 
— a  relation  in  which  the  acts  of  one  individual 
are  considered  in  Jaw  as  the  acts  of  those  whom 


34  VIEW  OP  CLARKE  AND  WATSON.^ 

be  represents.  According  to  the  Calvinist,  the  sin 
of  Adam  is  imputed  to  his  posterity,  or  considered 
theirs  in  a  legal  sense  in  view  of  a  covenant  ar- 
rangement made  with  him  as  their  federal  head. 
The  Arminian  sometimes  makes  use  of  similar 
phraseology,  but  at  the  same  time  tells  us  that  such 
a  system  would  be  unjust,  had  not  God  provided  a 
plan  by  which  we  might  work  our  way  out  of  the 
evils  and  ruins  of  the  fall.  Hence  they  tell  us 
that,  as-  an  offset  or  compensation  for  what  we  are 
made  to  suffer  in  our  fallen  state,  all  are  restored  by 
Christ,  the  second  Adam,  to  a  new  state  of  proba- 
tion.    But  hear  their  own  language : 

^^Had  not  Grod  provided  a  Redeemer,"  says  Adam 
Clarke  in  his  commentary  on  the  fifth  chapter  of 
Romans,  "  he  would  no  doubt  have  terminated  the 
whole  moral  story  by  cutting  off  the  original  trans- 
gressors; for  it  would  have  been  unjust  to  permit 
them  to  propagate  their  like,  under  such  circum- 
stances that  their  offspring  must  be  unavoidably  and 
eternally  wretched.''  "  Before  any  issue  proceeded 
from  the  first  pair,''  says  Mr.  Watson,  '^  they  were 
restored  to  the  divine  favour.  Had  no  methgd  of 
forgiveness  and  restoration  been  established  with 
respect  to  human  offenders,  the  penalty  of  death 
must  have  forthwith  been  executed  upon  them." 
Inst.  V.  ii.  p.  87.     A  mortal  thrust  is  here  blindly 


CONSEQUENCES.  35 

made  at  the  very  vitals  of  the  gospel.  They  may 
talk  largely  of  the  depravity  of  the  human  heart, 
of  the  federal  relation  between  Adam  and  his  pos- 
terity, of  the  justice  of  God  in  their  condemnation, 
and  of  the  mercy  and  love  of  God  in  the  gift  of 
his  Son ;  but  it  is  all  an  unmeaning  jargon  of  words. 
They  may  discourse  much  upon  the  efficacy  of 
means  and  the  moral  power  of  divine  truth ;  but  if 
this,  their  fundamental  principle,  is  carried  out,  the 
whole  gospel  scheme  is  reduced  to  a  mere  carcass, 
and  the  carcass  maimed  of  its  most  important 
limbs  J  a  carcass,  such  as  the  mummies  of  Egypt, 
which,  after  having  been  robbed  of  their  vitals  to 
preserve  them  from  corruption  and  decay,  must  be 
wi'apped  in  the  spicy  and  slimy  garments  prepared 
by  the  priest  that  ministers  to  the  ignorance  and 
pride  of  the  human  heart.  A  hideous  object  in- 
deed is  presented  to  the  sight  when  it  is  exposed  to 
the  light,  its  bandages  untied  and  its  covering  re- 
moved. But  we  can  form  no  just  conception  of 
what  we  have  embraced,  until  the  unpleasant  task 
is  accomplished.  Indulge  me,  therefore,  for  a  mo- 
ment, while  I  call  your  attention  to  some  of  the 
more  immediate  consequences,  in  addition  to  what 
has  already  been  said,  to  which  this  fundamental 
principle  of  Arminianism  leads. 

1.  It  robs  the  gospel  of  every  principle  of 


36  CONSEQUENCES. 

vitality  it  possesses.  To  this  I  have  already 
alluded ;  and  again  I  would  ask,  if  the  redemp- 
tion of  man  from  his  estate  of  sin  and  misery 
was  a  deht  that  God  owed  the  creature,  where  is 
the  love,  and  where  the  mercy,  of  the  gospel  ? 
and  what  is  the  ground  of  our  obligations  to  Christ 
for  his  obedience  and  sufferings  unto  death  ?  There 
is  none,  and  there  can  be  none  in  such  a  system. 
t  2.  It  degrades  the  character  of  Christ  to  that 
of  a  minister  of  sin.  He  is  made  the  cause 
of  all  the  sin  and  misery  that  have  afflicted 
our  race,  both  upon  earth  and  in  hell,  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world.  Look  again  at 
the  quotations  made  above  from  Clarke  and  Wat- 
son. "  It  would  have  been  unjust,"  says  one,  "  to 
have  permitted  our  first  parents  to  propagate  their 
like  without  a  Kedeemer."  '^  Had  no  method  of 
forgiveness  been  provided,'*  says  the  other,  "  the 
penalty  of  death  must  have  been  forthwith  exe- 
cuted upon  them."  If  this  be  true,  then  our 
coming  into  the  world  with  a  depraved  nature  is 
conditioned,  not  upon  the  sin  of  Adam,  but  the 
death  of  Christ ;  and  all  the  consequences  flowing 
from  that  nature  thus  inherited  are  conditioned 
upon  the  same  event.  For  example,  if  I  dig  a 
pit  and  draw  a  man  into  it,  that  I  may  have  an 
opportunity  of  lifting  him  out  again,  to  show  how 


CONSEQUENCES.  37 

benevolent  I  am,  that  which  I  choose  to  call  a 
benevolent  act  is  in  an  important  sense  the  con- 
dition or  cause  of  his  misfortune.  Again,  if  a 
servant  administers  poison  to  a  family,  at  the 
instance  of  a  physician  who  desires  to  show  his 
skill  in  restoring  them  to  health,  the  physician  as 
well  as  the  servant  is  chargeable  with  all  the  con- 
sequences that  ensue.  Precisely  in  the  same 
sense  is  the  death  of  Christ  the  necessary  con- 
dition and  cause  of  the  fall  of  man  and  his  con- 
sequent misery,  if  the  position  before  us  of  those 
who  hold  to  Arminian  sentiments  is  correct. 

3.  It  leads  also  to  the  denial  of  the  very  ex- 
istence of  sin  —  confounds  virtue  and  vice,  and 
excuses  men  in  the  greatest  crimes.  According 
both  to  the  Calvinist  and  Arminian,  the  sins  of 
our  race  flow  from  the  corrupt  nature  we  inherit. 
If,  then,  this  nature  is  not  ours  upon  just  and 
legal  grounds,  surely  we  cannot  be  held  account- 
able, upon  any  principle  of  justice,  for  the  acts  and 
feelings  that  flow  from  it,  whatever  they  may  be. 
It  is  a  clear  deduction ;  and  there  is  no  necessity 
of  drawing  out  a  lengthy  argument,  or  of  multi- 
plying illustrations,  to  render  it  more  apparent. 
Look  at  it  as  it  stands.  The  corrupt  nature  we 
inherit,  says  the  Arminian,  is  not  justly  ours. 
The  Bible  teaches,  and  his  own  system  teaches^ 
4 


38  CONSEQUENCES. 

that  all  sin  proceeds  from  that  nature  as  the  stream 
from  the  fountain.  What  other  conclusion  can 
we  draw,  then,  but  that  we  are  not  accountable 
for  anything  we  do  in  this  our  fallen  state  ?  And 
where  is  the  goal  at  which  we  can  stop  ? 

4.  It  makes  injustice  and  cruelty  the  most  con- 
spicuous attributes  of  the  divine  character.  God 
is  represented  not  only  as  holding  us  accountable 
for  that  which  is  not  justly  ours,  but  as  heaping 
immeasurable  reproach,  ignominy,  and  suffering 
upon  an  innocent  personage  when  there  was  no 
necessity  for  it ;  upon  one  whom  he  repeatedly 
declared  to  be  his  only  and  well-beloved  Son. 
Where  is  the  need  of  a  Redeemer  in  such  a  sys- 
tem ?  Where,  I  ask,  is  the  necessity  of  such  a 
sacrifice  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  the  law  and  jus- 
tice of  God,  when  the  law  can  make  no  demands, 
and  the  sinner  himself  has  claims  upon  justice  for 
injuries  received  at  her  hands  ?  Go,  then,  to  the 
garden  and  to  the  cross.  What  a  spectacle  is 
there  presented  !  The  Son  of  God  bathed  in  tears 
and  blood,  and  suspended  upon  the  torturing 
spikes  by  a  centurion's  band,  at  the  instance  of  a 
Jewish  mob  !  For  what  ?  Not  to  atone  for  his 
own  sins;  for  he  was  led  as  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter,  without  spot  and  without  blemish. 
Not  to  atone  for  the  sins  of  others ;  for  there  is  no 


CONSEQUENCES.  89 

sin  for  which  to  atone  that  might  not  have  been 
pardoned  without  violating  a  single  attribute  of 
the  divine  character,  or  endangering  a  single  in- 
terest of  the  divine  government.  What  then? 
Can  any  satisfactory  account  be  given  of  such 
scenes  in  such  a  system  ?  None  whatever.  Con- 
sistency will  necessarily  lead  either  to  a  denial  of 
the  divinity  of  Christ  and  of  his  death  as  a  sacri- 
ficial act,  or  to  the  absurd  and  blasphemous  as- 
sumption that  God  is  the  most  unjust  and  cruel 
of  all  tyrants. 

It  also  involves  a  gross  contradiction  in  itself. 
If  it  is  necessary  in  the  divine  government,  that 
the  sentence  of  the  law  should  be  executed  in 
all  its  force  as  soon  as  the  offence  is  committed, 
the  result  would  have  been  far  different  from 
what  it  was  in  the  case  of  our  first  parents. 
Eve  being  first  in  the  transgression,  would  have 
fallen  a  victim  to  death  the  moment  she  was  be- 
guiled by  the  serpent,  and  tasted  the  forbidden 
fruit.  In  that  case  Adam  might  have  been  saved 
from  the  ruins  of  the  fall,  and  blessed  with  ano- 
ther helpmeet,  or  left  alone  to  enjoy  the  blessings 
and  bounties  of  earth  till  his  probation  should  end. 
But  it  may  be  said  that  it  pleased  Cod,  in  his  in- 
scrutable wisdom,  to  link  together  the  destiny  of 
our  fii'st  parents ;  that  there  was  a  fitness  and  pro- 


40  CONSEQUENCES. 

priety  in  it  that  we  cannot  comprehend.  This  is 
the  very  principle  for  which  I  am  contending.  If 
it  be  just  thus  to  bind  two  individuals  together, 
making  the  fall  of  the  one  conditioned  upon  the 
fall  of  the  other,  where  then,  I  ask,  is  the  injustice 
of  conditioning  the  fall  of  a  third  or  fourth  upon 
the  same  event,  if  the  natural  and  social  ties  that 
bind  them  together  are  equally  strong  ?  And  what 
stronger  ties  can  there  be  than  those  that  exist 
between  parent  and  offspring  ?  If,  however,  those 
who  subscribe  to  the  view  of  Clarke  and  Watson 
are  not  willing  to  go  such  a  length,  they  must 
modify  their  view  of  what  would  have  been  the 
course  of  the  law  towards  our  first  parents  with- 
out the  promise  of  a  Redeemer.  They  must  con- 
sign Eve  to  perdition  the  moment  she  yields  to 
the  tempter,  and  let  Adam  go  free,  at  least  until 
his  superior  wisdom  and  strength  have  been  fully 
tested. 

I  might  go  on  almost  to  any  length  multiplying 
the  errors  and  absurdities  growing  out  of  this 
fundamental  principle  of  Arminianism ;  but  it  is 
perhaps  unnecessary.  Enough  has  been  said  to 
show  that  both  its  immediate  and  remote  conse- 
quences are  ruinous  in  the  extreme.  I  might 
also  add,  that  every  difficulty  and  absurdity,  real 
or  imaginary,  that  is  urged  against  the  Calvinistic 


A  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  41 

view  of  the  subject,  may  be  retorted  with  a  force 
and  propriety,  that  can  be  resisted  only  by  those 
whose  eyes  are  closed  to  the  light. 

It  was  such  difficulties  and  absurdities  that 
pressed  upon  me,  and  drove  me  to  a  more  consist- 
ent and  safe  position.  I  tried  every  means,  how- 
ever, to  explain  them  away,  but  to  no  purpose. 
My  way  was  always  blocked  up  by  a  single 
passage  of  Scripture,  that  declares  us  to  be  ^'  by 
nature  children  of  wrath  even  as  others."  To 
this  sad  truth  my  heart  gave  a  ready  response ; 
and  finding  no  safe  foothold  on  Arminian  ground, 
I  tried  to  find  some  other,  by  which  I  might 
avoid  the  difficulties  I  felt  would  press  upon  me 
if  I  adopted  the  Calvinistic  view  of  the  subject. 
I  read  McKnight,  Stuart,  Barnes,  and  others, 
but  found  no  satisfaction.  I  had  frequent  discus- 
sions with  my  classmates  and  others,  with  whom 
I  was  intimate  at  the  seminary,  which  served  only 
to  deepen  my  prejudices.  But  as  I  advanced  in 
my  course,  I  obtained  more  enlarged  views  of  the 
different  points  of  theology;  and  in  the  whole 
range  of  my  vision,  I  could  see  but  one  pass 
through  the  mountains  of  difficulties  that  roi^e  on 
every  side.  The  whole  question  resolved  itself  into 
this :  If  the  gospel  is  a  system  of  grace,  and  the  ofier 
of  life  is  a  free  gift,  then  is  the  sinner  condemned. 
4* 


42  A  MOUNTAIN  PASS. 

If  he  is  justly  condemned  there  must  be  a  legal  or 
federal  relation  existing  between  Adam  and  his 
posterity,  in  which  relation  his  sin  is  imputed  to 
them,  and  their  destiny  linked  with  his.  This 
view  I  found,  on  a  more  careful  investigation,  to 
be  confirmed  in  the  strongest  and  most  unequivo- 
cal manner  throughout  the  Scriptures.  The  fifth 
chapter  of  Paul's  epistle  to  the  Romans  is  sufficient 
to  settle  the  question  beyond  all  cavil  or  doubt. 
"The  wages  of  sin,''  the  penalty  of  the  law,  he  tells 
us,  "  is  death;"  death  temporal,  spiritual,  and  eter- 
nal, as  all  are  agreed.  In  the  same  connection  we  are 
told  that  death  has  passed  upon  all  men,  in  view 
of  their  relation  to  Adam,  as  their  federal  head ; 
even  upon  those  who  die  in  infancy,  who  have 
never  sinned  "after  the  similitude  of  Adam's 
transgression."  Upon  this  also  there  is  no  con- 
troversy between  the  Calvinist  and  Arminian.  It 
is  contended,  however,  that  the  word  death  in  the 
latter  case  does  not  comprehend  as  much  as  in 
the  former.  Be  it  so.  It  does  not  free  the  sub- 
ject of  a  single  difficulty ;  for  if  it  be  just  to  sub- 
ject us  to  a  part  of  the  penalty  of  the  law,  in 
view,  of  our  relation  to  Adam,  the  same  principle 
is  involved;  and  there  can  be  no  injustice  in  sub- 
jecting us  to  the  whole  of  that  penalty.  And 
that  such  is  the  case,  is  stated  by  the  apostle 


A  MOUNTAIN   PASS.  43 

Paul  in  tlie  same  connection  :  '^  By  one  man's 
disobedience,"  says  he,  "many  were  made  sin- 
ners"— "  by  one  man's  offence  death  reigned  by 
one" — "by  the  offence  of  one,  judgment  came 
upon  all  men  to  condemnation."  Here,  I  say, 
was  the  only  mountain  pass  through  the  difficul- 
ties and  dangers  that  surrounded  me.  I  entered  it 
with  the  exclamation  of  the  same  apostle  upon 
my  lips  :  "  How  unsearchable  are  his  judgments, 
and  his  ways  past  finding  out !"  The  beetling 
cliffs  towered  high  above  me;  with  a  trembling 
heart  and  careful  steps  I  found  my  way  through  j 
I  read  again  the  oracles  of  God,  and  found  a 
clearness,  a  beauty,  and  a  force,  in  many  parts 
which  I  had  never  before  seen.  But  my  mind 
was  by  no  means  yet  prepared  to  receive  the 
whole  Calvinistic  system.  I  paused  to  search  for 
the  middle  route.  I  used  every  possible  precau- 
tion. I  spared  neither  labour  nor  pains  to  accom- 
plish my  object.  I  noted  well  every  landmark. 
To  use  a  figure  drawn  from  scenes  with  which  you 
are  familiar,  I  kindled  camp-fires  in  every  valley, 
and  upon  every  hill-top  that  I  might  obtain  a 
correct  knowledge  of  the  country,  and  strike  out 
some  course  in  which  all  difficulties  and  dangers 
could  be  avoided.  With  what  success  the  sequel 
will  show.  Your  affectionate  son. 


LETTER  IV. 

THE  RExMEDY  PROVIDED — AMBIGUITY  OF  TERMS 

— THREE  VIEWS  OF  THE  ATONEMENT EARLY 

IMPRESSIONS POSITION  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND 

CHURCH — THE   GOAL   TO   WHICH   SHE   IS  TEN- 
DING. 

Dear  Father  : — Having  presented  the  view 
of  tlie  moral  condition  of  man  that  forced  itself 
upon  my  attention  and  conviction,  I  would,  in  the 
next  place,  notice  a  few  facts  with  regard  to  the 
nature  of  the  remedy  that  is  revealed  in  the 
gospel.  The  object  and  limits  of  these  commu- 
nications forbid  my  entering  upon  a  discussion 
of  the  subject  in  its  details.  I  shall  therefore 
simply  present,  in  general  terms,  the  different 
views  that  are  current  among  the  denominations 
of  professing  Christians,  and  the  early  impres- 
sions I  imbibed,  together  with  other  facts  of 
importance  that  may  be  suggested.  The  subject 
is  one  that  forms  another  important  link  in  the 
chain  of  theological  truth,  and  should  be  well 
understood,  and  clearly  defined.  Such,  however, 
are  the  different-  shades  of  meaning  attached  to 
(44) 


VIEWS   OF   THE   ATONEMENT.  45 

words  in  their  metaphysical  and  theological  use, 
that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  tell  what  a  man 
believes  till  he  has  defined  his  terms,  and  we  have 
succeeded  in  getting  at  the  ground-work  of  his 
system.  More  especially  is  it  true  of  the  atone- 
ment, concerning  which  every  possible  variety  of 
opinion  has  been  invented  by  the  ingenuity  of 
man,  and  zealously  advocated. 

When  the  question  is  narrowed  down  to  the 
nature  of  that  work,  the  discordant  theories  that 
divide  the  church  may  be  reduced  to  three,  at 
least  for  our  present  purpose,  each  differing  from 
the  others  in  its  fundamental  principles.  For  a 
full  statement  of  these  I  am  happy  in  being  able 
to  refer  you  both  to  Calvinistic  and  Arminian 
authority — such  as  Hill's  Divinity,  and  Watson's 
Institutes. 

1.  The  first  goes  upon  the  supposition  that 
pure  goodness,  or  benevolence,  is  the  absorbing 
attribute  of  the  divine  character;  that  his  only 
object  is  to  communicate  happiness  to  his  crea- 
tures, and  the  only  ground  of  his  hatred  to  sin  is 
because  it  leads  to  misery.  Hence  the  work  of 
Christ  was  in  no  sense  propitiatory  or  vicarious, 
but  simply  that  of  a  mere  teacher,  sent  to  reveal 
the  clemency  of  God,  and  to  offer  pardon  upon 
condition  of  repentance,  without  any  satisfaction 


46  VIEWS   OF   THE   ATONEMENT. 

being  made  for  sin.  Such  is  the  Socinian  view. 
*'  The  great  object  of  the  mission  and  death  of 
Christ/'  says  Dr.  Priestley,  "was  to  give  the 
fullest  proof  of  a  state  of  retribution,  in  order  to 
supply  the  strongest  motives  to  virtue.  *  *  * 
Although  there  are  some  texts  in  which  the  par- 
don of  sin  seems  to  be  represented  as  dispensed 
in  consideration  of  the  suflferings,  the  merits,  the 
resurrection,  the  life,  or  the  obedience  of  Christ, 
we  cannot  but  conclude,  upon  a  careful  exami- 
nation, that  all  these  views  of  it  are  partial 
representations ;  and  that,  according  to  the  plain 
general  tenor  of  Scripture,  the  pardon  of  sin  is  in 
reality  always  dispensed  by  the  free  mercy  of  God 
upon  account  of  man's  personal  virtue,  a  penitent, 
upright  heart,  and  a  reformed,  exemplary  life, 
without  regard  to  the  sufferings  or  merit  of  any 
being  whatever.''  Hill's  Div.  p.  419.  According 
to  such  a  system,  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
Christ  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  the  sinner's 
salvation  than  the  death  of  Stephen,  of  Paul,  or 
any  martyr  to  the  truth,  only  as  it  was  necessary 
for  him  to  die  to  furnish  an  example  to  his  fol- 
lowers, and  confirm  his  doctrines  by  his  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead. 

2.  The  second  system,  alluded  to  above   con- 
cedes to  the  first,  that  the  object  of  Grod,  in  his 


VIEWS   OF   THE  ATONEMENT.  47 

work  of  creation  and  providence,  is  the  bestow- 
ment  of  happiness  upon  his  creatures,  and  that 
there  is  no  difficulty,  founded  in  his  nature,  that 
lies  in  the  way  of  his  pardoning  the  sinner  with- 
out an  atonement.  But  it  is  contended,  that  in 
the  government  of  a  righteous  Being  some  dis- 
tinction should  be  made  between  an  innocent 
person  and  a  penitent  criminal,  and  that,  before 
any  offer  of  forgiveness  is  made  upon  conditions  of 
repentance,  there  should  be  some  memorial  of  the 
evil  nature  of  sin;  which  is  all  that  renders  an 
atonement  necessary.  This,  of  course,  involves  a 
denial  of  the  priestly  office  of  Christ,  and  renders 
the  whole  gospel  scheme  a  mere  expedient  in  the 
divine  government  to  cover  up  the  guilt  of  those 
condemned,  without  any  proper  satisfaction  to  law 
and  justice. 

I  shall  not  enter  upon  an  examination  of  either 
of  the  views  here  presented.  It  is  sufficient  to 
say,  that  they  involve  or  lead  to  a  denial  of  the 
divinity  of  Christ,  and  make  the  atonement  as 
much  applicable  to  the  devils  in  hell,  as  it  is  to 
the  fallen  race  of  Adam.  If  he  died  for  a  mere 
abstraction,  simply  to  make  a  grand  display  of  the 
character  of  God,  and  the  evil  of  sin,  or  that  it 
might  be  meet  and  proper  for*  God  to  honour  and 
reward  his  philanthropy,  by  forgiving  the  con- 


48  EARLY  IMPRESSIONS. 

demned  subjects  of  bis  moral  government,  then 
have  Satan,  or  tbe  lost  souls  in  bell,  as  much 
right  to  the  benefits  of  his  death  as  Peter,  Paul, 
John,  or  any  other  of  those  who  have  received 
forgiveness  in  his  name. 

8.  The  third  view  has  for  its  fundamental  prin- 
ciple, that  there  is  a  difficulty  in  the  way  of  tbe 
sinner's  pardon  in  the  rectitude  of  the  divine  cha- 
racter, in  his  hatred  of  sin,  as  well  as  the  nature 
of  the  divine  government  and  the  interests  it  up- 
holds. Hence  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ 
are  regarded  as  strictly  and  necessarily  vicarious. 
He  came  not  only  to  reveal  and  offer  pardon,  but 
to  procure  it ;  not  merely  to  make  an  exhibition 
of  the  mercy  of  God,  but  of  his  justice  also.  He 
stands,  therefore,  in  the  sinner's  place,  and  re- 
ceives what  he  should  have  borne.  His  sufferings 
and  death  have  reference,  not  merely  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  divine  government,  but  to  the  infinite 
purity  and  rectitude  of  the  divine  character,  and 
are,  in  the  fullest  sense,  substitutional,  vicarious, 
and  propitiatory.  Such  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
Westminster  and  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Con- 
fessions of  Faith.  There  has  been  no  alteration 
made  in  the  latter,  so  far  as  the  nature  of  the 
atonement  is  concerned.     See  chap.  viii.  sec.  5. 

It  was  this  last  view  of  the  atonement  that  I 


EARLY  IMPRESSIONS.  49 

early  adopted.  I  could  find  no  other  that  recom- 
mended itself  either  to  my  judgment  or  my  feel- 
ings. When  first  I  felt  that  I  had  found  peace 
with  Grod ;  ^hen  fii'st  I  was  led  to  the  cross,  and 
enabled  to  contemplate  the  sufierings  and  death 
of  Christ  in  their  true  light,  I  felt  that  I  had  found 
something  more  than  a  grand  display  of  the  divine 
character ;  something  more  than  a  mere  expedient 
to  save  the  sinner,  without  any  satisfaction  to  the 
claims  of  law  and  justice.  It  was  ^'  a  hiding-place 
from  the  wind,  and  a  covert  from  the  tempest;" 
from  the  tempest  that  had  spent  all  its  force  on 
him  as  the  substitute  of  the  sinner,  upon  whom 
was  laid  the  iniquity  of  us  all,  and  by  whose 
stripes  we  are  healed.  A  mere  exhibition  of 
philanthropy,  or  governmental  display  of  the 
divine  character,  will  not  do.  When  the  fountains 
of  religious  feeling  and  emotion  are  broken  up  by 
the  omnipotent  energies  of  the  Spirit  of  God; 
when  deep  calls  to  deep,  and  guilt,  with  its  ter- 
rific voice,  pronounces  the  sinner's  condemnation, 
the  trembling  soul  finds  no  relief  here.  God  is 
Iwli/  and  just  as  well  as  true,  and  from  his  own 
nature  is  evolved  the  truth  that  he  is  a  consuming 
fii-e ;  and  in  his  own  bosom  there  lie  the  sleeping 
storms  that  shall  for  ever  beat  upon  the  unsheltered 
regions  of  the  lost.  Take  from  the  gospel  the 
5 


50  CUMBERLAND   CHURCH. 

single  idea  of  substitution ;  take  from  it  the  doc- 
trine of  a  vicarious  atonement,  and  there  is  nothing 
left  worth  contending  for.  It  is  this  doctrine,  too, 
that  not  only  provides  a  hiding-place  from  the 
wind  and  the  tempest,  but  presents  itself  as  ^'  the 
shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land,"  and  fur- 
nishes ^^  rivers  of  wat^r"  to  the  fainting  traveller 
that  measures  over  the  parched  deserts  of  life  with 
a  pilgrim's  step.  This  doctrine  I  imbibed  in  the 
outset  of  my  religious  life,  as  well  as  in  my  inves- 
tigations of  truth ;  and  upon  it  I  anchored  all  my 
hopes.  I  tried,  however,  to  reconcile  it  with  the 
doctrine  that  the  atonement  is  general  in  its  pro- 
visions— a  leading  doctrine  of  the  Arminian  sys- 
tem, which  led  me  into  such  a  region  of  darkness. 
I  was  called  upon  again,  however,  to  note  the 
departure  of  the  Cumberland  Church  from  her 
own  standards,  and  the  danger  of  her  position. 
Upon  what  ground,  let  me  ask,  do  they  stand  as 
regards  the  nature  and  design  of  the  atonement  ? 
Not  upon  medium  ground;  not,  as  upon  other 
points,  in  the  rear  or  centre  of  the  Arminian 
ranks,  but  upon  the  extreme  left  flank,  crowding 
off  into  the  regions  of  Pelagian  darkness.  Hear 
the  language  of  one  who  has  written  a  book  upon 
the  subject,  and  who  stands  high  in  the  confi- 
dence and  affection  of  the  church :  "  The  atone- 


CUMBERLAND   CHURCH.  51 

ment/'  says  he,  ''  is  a  sovereign  and  merciful 
provision  introduced  into  the  administration  of  the 
divine  government,  instead  of  the  execution  of  the 
punishment  on  the  offender.  It  is  an  expedient 
which  justifies  the  executive  of  the  government  iu 
suspending  the  literal  infliction  of  the  penalty 
threatened/'  Such  is  the  language  of  one  who  is 
now  editing  a  religious  paper,  and  who  has  been 
placed,  by  the  voice  of  the  Cumberland  Church,  at 
the  head  of  her  "  Board  of  Publication.''  His  defi- 
nition is  taken  almost  verbatim  from  a  work  on 
the  extent  of  the  atonement,  by  a  Dr.  Jenkyn  of 
England,  whose  views  accord  with  the  ultra  por- 
tion of  New  School  Presbyterians  of  this  country. 
'^An  atonement,"  says  he,  ^' is  2iTij  provision  in- 
troduced into  the  administration  of  a  government 
instead  of  the  infliction  of  the  punishment  on  the 
offender;  any  eocpedient  that  will  justify  a  govern- 
ment in  suspending  the  literal  execution  of  the 
penalty  threatened."  I  have  neither  time  nor 
space  here  to  develop  the  author's  system ;  but  by 
examining  the  work  referred  to,  you  will  find  that 
it  not  only  destroys  the  vicarious  nature  of  the 
atonement,  but  degrades  the  obedience,  the  suffer- 
ings, and  death  of  Christ  to  a  mere  apology  for 
restoring  the  guilty  to  favour,'  without  any  satis- 
faction, in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  being 


62  CUaiBERLAND   CHURCH. 

made  to  law  and  justice.  And  his  views  of  the 
nature  of  regeneration  and  the  influence  of  the 
Spirit,  as  presented  in  a  work  upon  the  subject, 
coincide,  in  every  important  feature,  with  the 
views  of  Alexander  Campbell,  of  Bethany,  Va. ; 
are  part  and  parcel  of  his  theory  of  the  atonement, 
and  may  be  evolved  from  the  loose  definition  he 
has  given,  as  adopted  by  the  Cumberland  Church, 
in  the  only  work  she  has  yet  produced  on  the 
subject. 

Another,  who  would  be  called  great  in  the  Cum- 
berland Church,  and  who  is  hailed  as  one  of  the 
brightest  stars  in  the  constellation  of  her  talent, 
occupies,  if  possible,  more  dangerous  ground. 
For  condemning  his  opinions  I  have  been  charged 
with  '•'■  slandering  the  brethren ;"  the  author  of 
the  charge  darkly  insinuating  that  it  was  some- 
thing too  black  to  come  to  the  light.  Some  time 
ago  we  were  gravely  told  by  him,  in  an  article  in 
the  ''  Cumberland  Presbyterian,'^  that  there  is  a 
great  amount  of  ^^  stuff  sung  at  the  present  day 
by  "  the  orthodox,'^  and  he  cites  as  an  example 
the  familiar  couplet : 

'*  God  in  the  person  of  his  Son, 
Hath  all  his  mightiest  works  outdone." 

This  is  the  same  man  who,  a  short  time  since, 
found  a  fossil  shell  upon  the  top  of  the  Alleghe- 


CUMBERLAND   CHURCH.  53 

nies,  and  in  his  sophomoric  rhapsodies  on  the 
wonders  of  geology  tells  us,  that  the  greatest 
work  of  the  Almighty  is  that  of  creation.  He 
calls  it  ^'  a  poem/'  whose  closing  strains  shall 
never  be  sung.  The  atonement,  together  with 
the  redemption  of  man,  is  but  an  "  episode' '  of 
that  poem;  and  when  this  shall  have  been  fin- 
ished— when  the  purposes  of  God  upon  earth 
shall  have  been  accomplished,  the  great  and  the 
all-absorbing  theme  of  heaven  shall  be  the  new 
and  the  mighty  works  of  creation  he  shall  bring 
to  light.  What  then,  I  ask,  shall  become  of  the 
monuments  of  Calvary,  that  have  been  erected 
upon  every  plain  and  every  field  of  the  celestial 
world  ?  What  of  "  the  song  of  Moses,  the  servant 
of  God  and  the  Lamb  ?"  Shall  its  sweet  and 
sublime  strains,  which  now,  "as  the  sound  of 
many  waters,'^  burst  upon  the  ravished  ear  of 
heaven  be  forgotten  ?  Shall  a  new  choir  be  ush- 
ered in  to  sing  of  a  greater  and  more  glorious 
work  than  that  of  redemption?  No.  Not  a 
thought,  not  a  note  in  the  rounds  of  eternal  ages 
but  shall  speak  of  Calvary  and  of  Christ  crucified. 
This  shall  be  the  song,  this  the  theme,  this  the 
poem,  of  the  redeemed  of  God. .  Away,  then,  with 
such  "expedients,''  "apologies,"  "provisions,'' 
and  "episodes;"  and  let  not  those  who  would 
5* 


54  GOAL  TO  WHICH  TENDING. 

minister  at  the  altar,  touch  the  ark  of  God  with 
such  unhallowed  hands.  And  permit  me  here  to 
add,  that  if  the  Cumberland  Church  are  to  follow 
such  leaders,  they  will  sooner  or  later  find  them- 
selves in  a  region  of  darkness  and  of  night, 
where  there  is  neither  road  nor  course ;  and  where 
the  deluded  traveller,  for  entering  upon  such  for- 
bidden territory,  must  give  himself  a  prey  to  the 
monsters  of  the  deep,  or  be  prepared  to  navigate, 
as  did  a  famous  personage  of  Milton,  who,  in 
passing  the  limits  of  chaos  and  night, 
"O'er  bog,  or  steep,  through  strait,  rough,  dense,  or  rare, 

With  head,  hands,  -wings,  or  feet,  pursues  his  way ; 

And  swims,  or  sinks,  or  wades,  or  creeps,  or  flies." 

This  is  the  end  to  which  many  of  the  theolo- 
gical finger-boards  of  the  present  day  point  the 
anxious  inquirer  after  truth;  this  is  the  land, 
to  which  such  principles,  and  definitions,  and 
ideas,  as  are  now  being  stereotyped  in  the  Cum- 
berland Church,  will  ultimately  lead.  Pardon 
me  in  such  allusions.  I  do  not  sound  an  alarm 
to  bring  odium  upon  a  church  that  contains  many 
with  whom  my  heart  still  lingers.  Far  be  it.  I 
simply  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  develop- 
ment that  is  being  made  in  the  history  of  its  doc- 
trines ;  a  development  from  which  I  have  learned 
an  important  and  useful  lesson. 

Your  affectionate  son. 


LETTER  Y. 

APPLICATION  OF  THE  REMEDY — ^A  PAINFUL  CON- 
FLICT— A  WRONG  COURSE — UNIVERSAL  RE- 
DEMPTION— UNIVERSi^L  GRACE — A  GLOOMY 
PROSPECT. 

Dear  Father  : — The  points  examined,  and  con- 
cerning which  my  mind  had  become  permanently 
settled,  were  these  :  The  doctrine  of  human  de- 
pravity— the  complete  ruin  of  man — the  justice  of 
his  condemnation — the  legal  or  covenant  relation 
of  Adam  and  his  posterity — the  necessity  of  an 
atonement — and  its  vicarious  nature.  These  doc- 
trines are  dependent  upon  each  other,  and  in  their 
proper  and  scriptural  sense  belong  exclusively  to 
the  Calvinistic  system.  The  Arminian,  it  is  true, 
often  makes  use  of  the  same  phraseology  as  the 
Calvinist,  but  his  meaning,  if  he  has  any  clear 
understanding  at  all  of  his  subject,  is  widely  dif- 
ferent. Because  two  places  have  the  same  name, 
it  is  no  evidence  that  they  lie  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, or  have  the  same  locality.  Two  men,  for 
example,  may  hail  from  Boston,  and  yet  when  at 
home  be  a  thousand  miles  asunder — the  one  in 

(55) 


56  APPLICATIOX   OF   THE   REMEDY. 

Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  the  other  in  some 
obscure  village  of  Eastern  emigrants  upon  the 
extreme  frontier.  The  Arminian  attempts  to 
connect  with  his  system  the  doctrine  of  a  vica- 
rious atonement,  because  the  phrase  is  a  popular 
one,  and  he  cannot  well  do  without  it ;  but  when 
we  come  to  examine  its  meaning  we  find  that  he 
has  no  claim  to  it  whatever.  He  may  hold  on  to 
the  name,  but  nothing  more.  The  substance  is 
as  different  from  the  view  which  forms  a  part  of 
his  creed,  as  a  city  on  the  Atlantic  coast  differs 
from  a  small  village  in  the  backwoods.  It  is  a 
doctrine  intimately  associated  with  that  of  impu- 
tation ;  indeed  cannot  be  maintained  without  it. 
It  is  a  point  hard  by  that  which  I  have  represented 
as  the  only  pass  through  the  mountains  of  diffi- 
culties, that  gather  around  the  student  of  theology 
in  the  outset  of  his  investigations,  and  that  in- 
crease upon  his  pathway,  winding  among  their 
frozen  summits,  unless  guided  by  the  light  of 
heaven  he  is  enabled  to  find  his  way  through. 
But  I  must  hasten  on. 

Having  determined  the  disease,  and  the  nature 
of  the  remedy,  the  next  question  of  importance 
relates  to  the  application  of  the  remedy.  There 
are  two  questions  that  cover  the  whole  ground. 
Xst.  Upon  what  conditions  are  we  made  partakers 


APPLICATION   OF   THE   REMEDY.  57 

of  the  purchased  blessings  of  the  gospel  ?  2d.  How 
are  we  enabled  to  comply  with  those  condi- 
tions ?  With  regard  to  the  first  of  these  there  is 
but  little  controversy  between  Calvinists  and  Ar- 
minians,  though  there  is  here  also  a  wide  differ- 
ence in  the  meaning  attached  to  terms  and  phrases 
employed  by  each.  It  would  lead  me  entirely 
beyond  my  limits  to  enter  upon  a  discussion  of 
these  differences  at  present.  With  regard  to  the 
second  of  these  questions  there  has  been  much 
heated  controversy.  Over  this  one  subject  the 
dismembered  body  of  Christ  has  wrangled  and 
warred  more  than  over  any  other  that  has  divided 
the  church ;  and  it  is  yet  far  from  being  settled. 
Each  generation  gives  birth  to  the  same  exploded 
errors  and  arguments  of  the  past,  and  the  combat 
is  renewed  with  the  same  degree  of  ardour  as 
before.  The  question  is  one  of  vital  interest,  and 
demands  of  all  a  most  careful  and  impartial  inves- 
tigation. There  is  no  subject  in  the  whole  range 
of  theology  that  has  left  such  an  impress  upon  my 
mind  as  this.  It  has  been,  until  of  late,  a  source 
of  continued  anxiety  and  constant  meditation, 
and  has  led  to  many  painful  sacrifices  of  friendly 
feeling. 

About  the  time  I  left  home  for  the  Theological 
Seminary,  a  friend  placed  in  my  hands  a  little 


58  A  PAINFUL   CONFLICT. 

work  on  ^'  The  Divine  Purpose."  I  read  it  witli 
interest  and  profit.  It  made  a  strong  impression 
upon  my  mind,  removed  many  of  the  difl&culties 
from  a  doctrine  I  had  so  often  heard  condemned, 
and  led  to  further  reading  and  reflection.  I  felt 
anxious  to  investigate  thoroughly  the  system  of 
which  it  formed  a  part,  and  compare  it  with 
others,  and  cast  my  lot  where  truth  was  to  be 
found.  I  went  to  Princeton  from  the  Assembly, 
in  which  their  own  Confession  of  Faith  had  been 
pronounced  "  a  ragged  affair,''  with  the  conviction 
on  my  mind  that  I  would  have  to  abandon  the 
idea  of  labouring  in  the  same  field  with  those  whom 
I  loved.  I  asked,  you  remember,  for  a  letter  of 
dismission  from  the  church  to  which  I  belonged, 
with  the  view  of  shaping  my  course  according  to 
my  convictions  of  truth  and  duty.  The  effect 
produced  on  my  mind  by  your  reply  to  this  I  will 
not  attempt  to  describe.  The  very  memory  of  it 
gives  pain.  Never  shall  I  forget  your  appeal  to 
my  heart,  warm  with  parental  affection,  when, 
pointing  to  ^'  the  ringlets  of  age,''  you  asked  me, 
with  a  father's  tenderness,  to  pause  before  taking 
such  a  step.  I  read  your  letter  with  painful  feel- 
ings. I  was  grieved  for  having  thus  given  pain 
to  one  whom  I  loved.  I  found  relief,  however,  in 
the  consciousness  of  being  actuated  by  the  purest 


A  PAINFUL  CONFLICT.  59 

motives.  Such  an  appeal  at  that  time,  doubtless, 
had  a  secret  and  powerful  influence  in  deter- 
mining my  future  course.  I  tried,  however,  in 
all  my  investigations,  to  remember  that  I  was 
responsible,  in  such  matters,  only  to  the  Searcher 
of  hearts.  The  words  of  the  Saviour  were  before 
me  :  ^'  If  any  man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not  father, 
and  mother,  and  wife,  and  children,  and  brethren, 
and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot 
be  my  disciple."  I  continued  my  studies,  with 
the  determination  to  follow  as  my  convictions 
of  truth  and  duty  might  dictate.  I  paused  as  you 
had  requested.  There  stood  before  me  the  doc- 
trines of  original  sin,  a  vicarious  atonement,  a 
general  atonement,  and  the  doctrine  of  election. 
One  or  the  other  must  be  discarded.  Of  the  first 
two  I  felt  fully  convinced ;  nothing,  if  I  knew  my 
own  heart,  could  have  shaken  my  faith  in  them. 
If  they  are  taken  away,  the  gospel  is  stripped  of 
all  its  power ;  of  its  power  to  convince  of  sin  and 
guilt,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  bring  peace  and  joy 
to  the  troubled  conscience,  on  the  other.  The 
idea  of  a  general  atonement,  with  its  blessings 
alike  provided  for  all,  had  taken  a  strong  hold 
upon  my  mind,  and  was  one  that  I  had  been 
taught  to  cherish  as  the  only  warrant  for  preach- 
ing the  gospel  "  to  every  creature."     Such  a  view 


60  A  WRONG  COURSE. 

of  the  extent  of  the  atonement,  however,  could  not 
be  reconciled  with  the  doctrine  of  election,  without 
destroying  its  vicarious  nature.  I  was  again  in 
trouble.  It  was  an  important  crisis,  a  painful 
conflict,  in  which  the  tenderest  feelings  of  my 
heart  were  called  into  exercise.  One  thought  de- 
cided the  case.  I  felt  that  I  could  discard,  with 
more  safety  and  comfort  to  myself,  the  doctrine  of 
election,  than  that  of  a  general  atonement ;  that 
I  could .  explain  away  the  difficulties  connected 
with  the  denial  of  the  former  more  easily,  than 
those  that  might  follow  upon  the  denial  of  the 
latter.  I  therefore  discarded  the  doctrine  of  elec- 
tion, and  with  it  there  went  by  the  board  also 
"  the  decrees  of  God,'^  ^^  effectual  calling,'^  and 
other  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  Calvinistic  sys- 
tem. I  was  glad  thus  to  have  before  me  still  the 
hope  of  finding  tJie  middle  way^  and  of  gratifying 
a  parent's  wishes  without  doing  violence  to  my 
own  conscience. 

Having,  as  before  related,  satisfied  my  mind 
with  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  imputation,  I  had 
hailed  with  delight  the  doctrine  of  a  vicarious 
atonement  as  its  necessary  consequence — a  doctrine 
which  had  previously  found  its  way  to  my  heart. 
At  this  point,  however,  I  drove  my  last  stake 
in  the  beaten  road  of  Calvinism.    I  did  not  stop 


A   GLOOMY   PROSPECT.  61 

long  enougli  to  examine  tlie  doctrine  of  imputa- 
tion and  the  nature  of  the  atonement,  in  all  their 
relations  and  consequences.  A  little  more  reflec- 
tion here  would  have  saved  me  from  many  diffi- 
culties and  trials;  but  the  fabled  mountains, 
deserts,  giants,  goblins,  and  ghosts  of  the  ulterior 
regions  of  Calvinism  drove  me  away.  I  re- 
solved, therefore,  at  this  point,  in  completing  my 
system  of  theological  truth,  to  leave  the  Calvin- 
istic  path,  and  strike  out  for  a  popular  point  in 
the  Arminian  system,  for  which  I  had  already 
formed  a  strong  partiality.  To  continue  the  figure 
— my  object  was  to  open  out  a  safe  and  continuous 
route  from  the  less  objectionable  points  of  Calvin- 
ism, leading  on  through  the  great  city  of  universal 
redemption.  I  knew  it,  however,  to  be  a  place  of 
much  resort,  and  one  through  which  almost  every 
road  of  error  in  Christendom,  from  Puseyism  and 
Popery  to  Mormonism,  is  made  to  pass.  But 
I  was  encouraged  by  the  hope  that  from  such  a 
depot  of  systems  and  philosophy,  one  path,  at 
least,  could  be  found  that  would  be  safe  and 
attractive.  I  bore  off  with  the  most  sanguine  ex- 
pectations. Little  did  I  dream  of  what  was  to  be 
encountered.  A  wilderness  was  before  me — deserts 
and  swamps  of  every  description,  unexplored  and 
untrodden  by  the  foot  of  man ;  for  who  yet  had 
6 


62  A   GLOOMY  PROSPECT. 

attempted  and  succeeded  in  connecting  together 
the  doctrine  of  imputation,  a  vicarious  atonement, 
and  that  of  universal  redemption  ?  It  was  the 
only  possible  chance,  however,  for  the  middle 
way. 

After  many  days  and  nights  of  peril  and  anx- 
iety, I  completed  a  hasty  examination  of  the 
proposed  route.  I  found,  it  is  true,  many  difficul- 
ties to  be  encountered,  but  hoped  to  be  able  to 
remove  them  all.  I  conceived  the  wild  project 
of  clearing  out  the  forests — levelling  the  moun- 
tains— filling  up  the  valleys — -draining  the  swamps, 
and  of  becoming  a  second  Saint  Patrick,  to  go 
forth  and  destroy  the  many  tribes  of  croaking  rep- 
tiles by  which  they  were  infested.  I  was  urged 
on,  too,  by  the  pleasing  thought  that  he,  whom 
providence  might  raise  up  to  accomplish  such  a 
work,  would  not  only  be  hailed  as  the  greatest 
benefactor  of  his  race,  but  at  the  same  time  would 
acquire  a  fame  as  imperishable  as  that  of  the  man 
who  is  yet  to  invent  a  perpetual  motion,  find  the 
quadrature  of  the  circle,  or  discover  the  north- 
west passage  to  the  Pacific.  Inspired  by  such 
hopes,  I  began  to  feel  that  I  was  out  of  danger ; 
but,  alas,  was  destined  to  meet  with  difficulties 
and  disappointments  at  every  step,  until  I  got 
back  into  the  beaten  path  I  had  left.     There 


A  GLOOMY  PROSPECT.  63 

was  mucli  yet  to  be  learned — much  in  Arminian 
and  Cumberland  pbilosopliy,  of  wbicb  I  bad 
never  dreamed. 

Holding  to  tbe  doctrine  of  a  vicarious  atone- 
ment, general  in  its  provisions,  and  denying  tbe 
doctrine  of  election,  I  was  led  into  tbe  very  heart 
of  tbe  Arminian  system ;  and  was  there  compelled 
to  adopt  the  doctrines  of  human  ability,  and  of 
sufficient  or  universal  grace,  in  answer  to  the 
question  proposed  as  to  tbe  manner  in  which  we 
are  enabled  to  comply  with  tbe  conditions  of  sal- 
vation required  in  the  gospel.  These  doctrines, 
however,  I  found,  after  matui*e  investigation,  to 
be  unscriptural  in  their  character,  absurd  in  their 
philosophy,  dangerous  in  their  tendency,  and 
oftentimes  destructive  of  the  strength  and  vitality 
of  religion.  At  first  view,  to  a  mind  of  limited 
research,  they  may  appear  exceedingly  plausible, 
but  when  stripped  of  their  appendages,  and  nar- 
rowed down  to  the  germinating  principle  from 
which  the  whole  system  may  be  developed,  they 
bear  upon  their  face  their  own  refutation.  A 
simple  statement  of  these  principles  is  all  that 
is  necessary  to  a  proper  understanding  of  the 
subject.  Two  will  suffice :  one  of  which  is, 
that  a  soul  spiritually  dead,  under  the  ordinary 
operations  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  may  exercise  the 


64  A   GLOOMY   PROSPECT. 

most  important  functions  of  life ;  the  otBer,  that 
a  certain  amount  of  grace  is  given  to  every  man 
at  his  birth,  or  when  he  arrives  at  the  age  of  dis- 
cretion, upon  the  proper  improvement  of  which 
his  salvation  is  made  to  depend.  These  two  prin- 
ciples constitute  the  ground-work  and  main  pillars 
of  the  whole  Arminian  scheme,  and  are  such  as 
demand  the  serious  attention  and  careful  investi- 
gation of  every  lover  of  truth  and  order.  View- 
ing them  in  this  light,  permit  me  here  to  solicit 
your  attention  to  an  examination  of  their  merits 
as  the  importance  of  the  subject  may  seem  to 
demand. 

The  practical  workings  of  these  principles, 
together  with  some  of  the  exhibitions  of  party 
zeal,  so  often  made  by  their  ignorant  and  blinded 
votaries,  demand  at  least  a  passing  notice.  This 
I  shall  reserve  for  my  next  communication. 

Your  affectionate  son. 


LETTEH  VI. 

OPPOSITION  TO  CALVINISM — THE  BIG  MEETING 

ARMINIAN  LOGIC  AND  ZEAL. 

Dear  Father  : — When  I  see  a  man  trying  to 
distort  tlie  proper  meaning  of  words,  and  present- 
ing a  garbled  statement  of  the  views  of  an  oppo- 
nent, I  take  it  as  conclusive  evidence  that  he  has 
a  bad  cause ;  more  especially  when  he  is  con- 
stantly at  it,  and  manifests  in  all  that  he  does  a 
feeling  of  uneasiness  and  hostility  towards  those 
who  oppose  him.  During  my  brief  sojourn  in  the 
Cumberland  church  I  was  called  upon  to  witness 
many  such  exhibitions  that,  in  the  outset  of  my 
ministerial  labours,  made  anything  but  a  favorable 
impression  on  my  mind.  I  found  there,  in  com- 
mon with  all  others  who  hold  to  Arminian  senti- 
ments, the  most  uncompromising  and  malignant 
opposition  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  while  there  was  not  a  man  that  I  met  in 
all  my  intercourse,  that  could  state  fairly  and 
fully  what  those  doctrines  are.  Their  views  were 
entirely  one-sided — the  tiTith  was  garbled  to  suit 
their  own  convenience,  and  the  creations  of  their 
6  *  (66) 


66  OPPOSITION   TO   CALVINISM. 

own  fruitful  fancy  were  constantly  being  presented 
before  the  minds  of  the  people,  thereby  deepening 
their  prejudices,  and  drawing  still  closer  the  dark 
folds  of  their  mantle  of  ignorance  and  bigotry.  I 
found  many  things  neither  to  edification  nor 
profit;  but,  on  the  contrary,  in  their  immediate 
and  final  consequences,  highly  injurious  to  the 
cause  of  religion  and  morality.  I  allude  to  the 
disgraceful  scenes  so  often  witnessed  in  Arminian 
churches,  which  some  are  pleased  to  call  revivals 
of  religion — where  the  sympathies  and  passions  are 
worked  upon  by  every  possible  means,  and  a  com- 
bined and  concerted  effort  put  forth  to  make  peo- 
ple religious  by  the  instrumentality  of  mourners' 
benches,  anxious  seats,  shouting  committees,  rant- 
ing exhortations,  and  such  like — where  noise  and 
devotion  are  considered  as  synonymous,  and  the 
effect  of  the  whole  scene  dependent  upon  the  con- 
fusion that  results  from  the  extraordinary  means 
employed.  Am  I  wrong  in  tracing  the  origin  of 
such  exhibitions  of  enthusiasm  to  the  Arminian 
doctrine  of  grace  and  ability  ?  If  God  has  already 
done  all  that  he  will  do  or  can  do  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  sinner,  then  the  use  of  such  means, 
under  certain  circumstances,  follows  as  a  necessary 
consequence.  Do  not  consider  me  as  condemning 
revivals  of  religion  when  properly  conducted.    By 


THE   BIG   MEETING.  67 

no  means.  They  are  the  very  life  and  soul  of  the 
church — essential  to  her  growth  and  prosperity, 
if  not  to  her  very  existence.  I  do  condemn, 
however,  in  the  most  unqualified  terms,  every 
counterfeit  of  a  revival,  where  passion  and  not 
reason  is  addressed,  where  sectarian  bigotry  pre- 
sides, and  persons  of  every  age  and  class  are  led 
to  make  '^  a  profession  of  religion,'^  who  can  give 
no  rational  account  of  the  gospel  plan  of  salvation, 
or  of  the  hope  that  is  in  them. 

In  order  that  I  may  not  be  misunderstood,  and 
that  I  may  accomplish  my  object  with  as  much 
brevity  as  possible,  permit  me  here  to  present  a 
characteristic  scene,  illustrative  of  Arminian  logic 
and  zeal,  in  which  the  advocates  of  such  a  system 
so  often  congratulate  themselves.  Scenes  similar 
to  this  are  of  no  unfrequent  occurrence  among 
those  whose  main  standpoint  is  this  doctrine  of 
universal  and  sufficient  grace — and,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  have  sometimes  been  witnessed  in  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Cumberland  church.  Its  counterpart 
will  be  found  in  the  early  history  of  the  church  in 
western  PennsyTvania,  as  well  as  other  parts  of 
the  country ;  the  unpleasant  and  bitter  fruits  of 
which  are  now  every  day  realized. 

I  will  locate  the  scene  to  which  I  allude  in  the 
town  of ,  at  what  is  called  a  "  big  meeting.'' 


QV  THE  BIG   MEETING. 

It  was  at  a  time  when  religion  was  at  a  low 
ebb.  The  church  was  asleep.  Many  seasons  of 
communion  had  passed  without  any  tokens  of  the 
divine  presence.  Her  broken  ranks  were  becoming 
identified  with  the  world,  and  their  last  end  be- 
coming worse  than  the  first.  Something  must  be 
done.  A  meeting  must  be  appointed,  not  to  ob- 
tain the  di\dne  presence  and  power,  but  simply  to 
stir  the  inborn  energies  of  the  soul  to  the  im- 
provement of  grace  already  possessed.  The  day 
was  fixed — the  meeting  commenced — but  its 
progress  seemed  to  indicate  a  complete  fail- 
ure. Nothing  was  efiected.  Sermons  had  been 
preached,  the  people  had  been  exhorted,  yet  they 
were  still  cold  and  lifeless.  Something  more  must 
be  done;  every  means  must  be  employed  to  get 
up  some  kind  of  an  excitement ;  it  will  never  do 
to  let  a  Big  Meeting  close  without  a  fuss  of  some 
kind ;  there  must  be  a  little  fox-fire  kindled  rather 
than  have  no  fire  ',  the  dry  bones  must  be  rattled 
a  little,  even  if  there  should  be  no  prospect  of 
giving  them  flesh  and  sinews.  The  machinery 
was  accordingly  put  in  motion.  'Divers  kinds  of 
meetings  were  appointed,  as  time  and  circum- 
stances would  permit — prayer-meetings  for  old 
men,  young  men,  and  women ;  love-feasts,  confer- 
ence-meetings, general  class-meetings,  particular 


THE  BIG  MEETIxa.  G9 

class-meetings,  and  every  thing  else  that  could  be 
thought  of.  Preachers  far  and  near  were  solicited 
to  attend,  and  every  arrangement  was  made  by 
which  to  operate  upon  the  prejudices  and  passions 
of  the  multitude. 

Those  selected  to  officiate  on  the  occasion  were 
well  adapted  to  their  work,  among  the  most  promi- 
nent of  whom  were  two  very  noted  and  distin- 
guished characters — a  certain  Professor  Aristotle 
and  Timothy  Boisterous,  whose  sayings  and  doings 
demand  our  notice. 

A  timely  announcement  of  their  ai-rival  was 
made,  and  the  community  fully  advertised  as  to 
what  might  be  expected  from  such  an  array  of 
talent.  The  town  hall  was  brilliantly  lighted  for 
the  occasion — the  bells  were  rung — the  hour  ar- 
rived— the  people  assembled — and  all  eyes  were 
turned  towards  the  noted  and  distinguished  char- 
acters on  the  stand. 

After  the  usual  preliminaries,  the  Rev.  Pro- 
fessor, with  his  colleague  in  the  rear,  arose  and 
with  solemn  emphasis  announced  his  text  — "  Can 
the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his 
spots  ?  then  may  ye  also  do  good  that  are  accus- 
tomed to  do  evil.''  Jer.  xiii.  23.  I  can  only  give 
Bome  of  the  leading  thoughts  of  the  discourse. 
The  passsge  of  divine  truth  before  us,  said  he,  is 


70  ARMINIAN   LOGIC   AND   ZEAL. 

generally  regarded  as  one  of  the  strongholds  of 
Calvinism ;  the  doctrines  of  which,  I  am  bold  and 
free  to  assert,  and  able  to  maintain,  have  done  the 
world  more  injury  than  any  other  heresy  or  sys- 
tem of  error.  Atheism,  Infidelity,  and  Popery 
itself  may  hang  their  heads  when  it  appears. 
Grim,  dark,  and  forbidding,  it  is  more  to  be  de- 
tested than  the  wildest  dream  of  Beelzebub,  or  any 
other  of  the  tenants  of  the  pit.  It  has  ground 
the  poor — exalted  the  rich — licked  the  blood  of 
martyrs — and  steeped  the  souls  of  men  in  bigotry, 
ignorance  and  vice.  I  therefore,  said  he,  invite 
and  solicit  your  serious  attention ;  and  when  I  have 
finished  my  argument,  if  there  is  any  one  here  who 
will  have  the  assurance  to  quote  the  passage  before 
us,  to  bolster  up  the  decayed,  rotten,  crumbling 
system  of  Geneva,  I  will  venture  to  say  that  he 
will  quote  Scripture  to  prove  the  devil  an  angel 
of  light. 

So  much  for  the  exordium.  Then  followed  a 
summary  account  of  the  creation,  the  fall  of  man, 
the  antediluvian,  the  patriarchal,  the  Mosaic,  and 
prophetic  periods  of  the  world's  history;  and, 
lastly,  the  gospel  dispensation,  in  which  a  suffix 
ciency  of  grace  is  poured  upon  all  flesh — so  that 
the  Jew  and  the  Greek,  the  bond  and  the  free, 
the  Christian  and  the  Pagan,  all  have  the  neces- 


ARMINIAN  LOGIC   AND   ZEAL.  71 

sary  light  and  ability  to  enable  them  to  become 
as  perfect  as  the  angels  in  heaven,  if  they  would 
only  improve  the  means  placed  within  their  reach. 
This  is  the  doctrine  to  which  we  hold,  said  he : 
free  grace  and  fair  chance  to  alL  But  to  the 
proof,  the  points  of  which  were  as  follows  :  1.  The 
Ethiopian  is  far  more  sagacious  and  tractable  than 
the  leopard;  for  the  Scriptures  expressly  say 
that  "Ethiopia  shall  stretch  forth  her  hands;" 
whereas,  no  promise  is  made  to  the  latter,  except 
that  he  shall  lie  down  with  the  kid,  "  and  a  young 
child  shall  lead  them/'  There  is  a  self-determin- 
ation and  ability  exercised,  under  the  influence  of 
motives  and  means  implied,  in  the  one  case  that 
are  not  found  in  the  other.  2.  The  language  of 
the  text  plainly  implies,  that  it  is  as  easy  for  the 
Ethiopian  to  change  his  skin  as  it  is  for  the  leop- 
ard to  change  his  spots ;  and  of  course  a  far  easier 
task  to  induce  him  to  do  it,  if  he  could  only  be 
convinced  of  the  fact,  and  the  proper  motives  pre- 
sented to  the  mind.  3.  It  is  as  easy  for  the  leop- 
ard, unless  caged  or  confined,  to  change  his  spots 
as  it  is  to  perform  any  other  act.  There  can  be 
no  greater  mistake,  said  he,  than  is  often  found  in 
the  interpretation  of  a  single  word  in  the  passage 
before  us.  The  prophet  is  not  here  speaking  of 
the  inability  of  the  leopard  to  shake  off  the  beau- 


72  ARMINIAN  LOGIC  AND   ZEAL. 

tiful  and  spotted  covering  that  nature  intended  it 
should  wear — this  is  a  dogma  of  Calvinism — but 
simply  of  its  power  to  go  from  one  place  to  another, 
as  prompted  by  its  instincts,  its  desires,  its  hopes, 
and  fears.  Precisely  in  the  same  way,  said  he, 
may  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  by  changing 
his  relation  to  the  outward  circumstances  and 
causes  by  which  his  dark,  and  swarthy  appearance 
has  been  produced.  Let  him  change  his  spots — 
let  him  migrate  from  the  hot,  burning,  sandy 
deserts  of  Africa,  to  the  frozen  and  snowy  regions 
of  the  north.  Let  him  gaze  upon  the  perpetual 
snows  of  the  frigid  zone,  as  he  has  upon  the 
scorched  plains  of  the  torrid,  and  in  the  course  of 
time  he  will  become  as  white  and  as  bleached  as 
the  polar  bear.  The  argument,  then,  is  briefly 
this :  as  surely  as  the  leopard  has  the  power  of 
locomotion,  and  can  change  his  spots,  so  may  the 
Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  and  ye  also  do  good, 
who  are  accustomed  to  do  evil.  Where,  then,  I 
ask,  said  he,  in  conclusion,  are  the  absurdities  and 
dogmas  of  Calvinism  ?  of  election  and  divine  effi- 
ciency ? — dead — thrice  dead.  And  in  view  of 
such  exhibitions  of  the  truth  of  God,  who  will 
stand  up  for  their  defence  ? — who  will  avow  his 
belief  in  such  absurdities  ? — who,  I  ask,  in  this 
enlightened  and  progressive  age  will  attempt  to 


ARMINIAN  LOGIC  AND  ZEAL.  73 

uphold  such  a  soul-destroying  and  Grod-dishonour- 
ing  system  ?     Echo  answers — who  ? 

Thus  closed  the  discourse  of  the  ^^earned" 
professor,  when  his  colleague  addressed  the  audi- 
ence, byway  of  exhortation,  in  his  usual  vociferous 
and  vehement  style.  He  surpassed  himself,  and 
succeeded  in  raising  the  feelings  of  the  numerous 
assembly  to  the  highest  point  of  excitement.  The 
scene  that  followed  beggars  all  description.  The 
strongest  hyperbole  falls  below  the  reality.  While 
the  preacher  exhorted,  the  women  shouted,  and 
every  thing  that  could  make  a  noise  sounded  its 
highest  and  loudest  note.  Fiddles  and  fifes,  ket- 
tles and  drums,  conch-shells  and  triangles,  horse- 
fiddles  and  bag-pipes,  and  every  other  imaginable 
combination  of  sounds  could  not  have  produced  a 
wilder  discord.  This,  however,  was  a  necessary 
part  of  the  machinery,  without  which  nothing 
could  be  effected.  Accordingly,  every  appeal  was 
now  made  to  the  passions  and  sympathies  of  the 
excited  assembly.  Nothing  was  too  boisterous, 
and  nothing  too  extravagant.  The  world  was 
coming  to  an  end — the  judgment  was  just  at 
hand — the  stars  were  already  loose  in  their  sock- 
ets— and  the  moon  was  going  crazy.  The  heav- 
ens are  already  black  with  the  tempest,  said 
Timothy.  The  old  ship  of  Zion  will  soon  be  off 
7 


74  ARMINIAN  LOGIC   AND   ZEAL. 

— the  last  chance  is  offered — steam  high — and 
already  loosed  from  her  anchorage  I  €ome  one, 
come  all — change  your  spots  and  thereby  change 
your  skins  and  your  hearts — old  men  and  matrons, 
young  men  and  maidens,  with  bonnets  and  boots, 
trimmings  and  trappings,  luggage  and  baggage — 
higgelty  piggelty — roll  in  and  let  us  roll  off,  ere 
the  elements  are  melted,  and  the  bending  heavens 
empty  themselves  of  impending  wrath. 

Amid  such  scenes  of  confusion  the  wearied  and 
exhausted  assembly  tarried  till  the  night  was  far 
spent.  Had  the  priests  of  Baal  been  there,  they 
might  have  found  an  atmosphere  somewhat  con- 
genial to  their  own  feelings.  Had  the  old  prophet 
been  there,  who  mocked  their  devotions,  he  might 
have  said  to  them  as  he  did  to  the  idolatrous  wor- 
shippers :  "Cry  aloud,  for  he  is  a  god ;  either 
he  is  talking,  or  he  is  pursuing,  or  he  is  on  a  jour- 
ney, or  peradventure  he  sleepeth  and  must  be 
awakened." 

But  I  forbear  continuing  this  train  of  thought 
further.  My  object  is  not  ridicule — far  from  it. 
Lest  you  should  think  me  chargeable  with  such 
an  attempt  I  will  drop  the  figure,  and  in  my  next 
communication  will  endeavour  to  present  this  doc- 
trine of  human  ahility  and  universal  grace  in  a 
more  tangible  form.     You  have  here  simply  a 


ABMINIAN  LOGIC  AND  ZEAL.  75 

picture  of  the  impressions  made  upon  my  mind 
with  regard  to  the  logic  and  untempered  zeal  of 
those  who  make  it  their  main  rallying  point — im- 
pressions which  I  would  gladly  suppress,  but  they 
form  an  important  link  in  the  chain  of  causes  that 
have  led  me  to  my  present  position. 

Your  affectionate  son. 


LETTER    YII. 

SOURCE  AND  EVILS  OF  UNDUE  EXCITEMENT — 
HUMAN  ABILITY — SUFFICIENT  GRACE — SAME 
AS  ROMISH  DOCTRINE — DIFFICULTIES  AND  AB- 
SURDITIES INVOLVED. 

Dear  Father  : — The  extravagances  to  which 
I  have  referred,  I  am  confident  you  will  condemn, 
as  much  as  I  do,  as  being  often  both  injurious  and 
disgraceful  to  religion.  But  in  condemning  them 
we  indirectly  condemn  the  doctrine  under  consider- 
ation. Let  a  man  be  convinced  that  all  men, 
under  all  circumstances  and  conditions  of  life, 
have  the  necessary  light  and  ability  in  order  to 
salvation,  and  what  else  has  he  to  do,  if  he  is  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  but  to  get  up  some  kind  of 
religious  excitement,  that  by  some  spasmodic 
effort  the  will  may  be  brought  into  exercise, 
something  like  getting  in  motion  a  wagon  that  has 
been  stalled  in  the  mud  ?  The  way  is  clear,  the 
horses  have  strength  enough  to  pull  it  out,  if  they 
would  only  exert  it.  To  accomplish  this,  all 
the  driver  has  to  do  is  to  lay  on  the  whip. 
Thousands  under  the  influence  of  such  heated 
excitements  as  are  here  alluded  to,  may  be  led  to 
(76) 


EVILS   OF  UNDUE  EXCITEMENT.  77 

siiout  their  unmeaning  hallelujahs,  and  run  well 
for  a  time,  but,  destitute  of  any  clear  views  of  the 
plan  of  salvation,  and  having  no  principle  of  vi- 
tality, their  last  end,  in  most  instances,  will  be 
found  worse  than  the  first.  In  the  Methodist 
Church  such  cases  are  more  easily  disposed  of. 
They  may  be  placed  upon  the  list  of  those  who 
have  fallen  from  grace.  But  in  the  Cumberland 
Church,  whose  book  of  discipline  has  been  taken 
from  one  intended  for  a  different  order  of  things, 
they  will  oftentimes  be  found,  as  the  extra  pots 
of  manna  in  the  Jewish  camp,  to  breed  worms 
and  disease.  I  am  not  drawing  upon  my  imagin- 
ation. I  speak  what  I  have  seen  and  felt  during 
my  ministry  in  the  Cumberland  Church.  •  I  might 
cite  numerous  instances  that  have  come  under  my 
own  observation,  illustrative  of  the  evil  here  al- 
luded to,  but  I  forbear  pressing  the  point  further. 
I  promised  to  present  this  doctrine  of  human 
ability  and  sufficient  grace  in  a  more  tangible 
form.  For  the  sake  of  convenience,  I  will  con- 
sider both  together,  as  they  are  necessarily  con- 
nected in  the  Arminian  scheme. 

I  wish,  in  the  first  place,  to  call  your  attention 
to  an  important  fact,  that  is  not  sufficiently  no- 
ticed, with  regard  to  this  cardinal  feature  of  the 
Arminian  system.   It  is  a  fa\  oui'ite  doctrine  of  the 
7* 


78  ROMISH  DOCTRINE. 

Romish  Church,  and  constitutes  an  essential 
element  in  "  the  mystery  of  iniquities/'  The 
decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  on  this  subject, 
express  the  same  views  and  feelings  as  are  mani- 
fested by  the  great  body  of  Arminians,  of  every 
grade  throughout  the  country.  ^^  Whoever  shall 
affirm/'  say  they,  ''  that  when  man's  free  will  is 
moved  and  wrought  upon  by  God,  it  does  in  no 
respect  co-operate  and  consent  to  divine  influence 
and  calling,  so  as  to  dispose  and  prepare  him  to 
obtain  the  grace  of  justification;  or  that  he  cannot 
refuse  if  he  would,  but  is  like  a  lifeless  thing, 
altogether  inert,  and  merely  passive — let  him  be 
accursed."  There  is  the  same  harmless  shaft 
here  blindly  thrown  at  the  shield  of  truth,  from 
the  hand  of  the  '^mother  of  harlots,"  as  now 
oftentimes  comes  in  darkening  showers  from  the 
Arminian  ranks.  This  is  no  bugbear  of  the 
imagination.  ^'  The  Jesuits  maintain,"  says  Pas- 
cal in  his  Provincial  Letters,  who  himself  was 
a  devoted  Romanist,  "  that  there  is  a  grace  given 
generally  to  all  men,  subject  in  such  a  way  to  free 
will,  that  the  will  renders  it  efficacious  or  ineffica- 
cious at  its  pleasure,  without  any  additional  aid 
from  God,  and  without  needing  anything  on  his 
part  in  order  to  act  effectively — and  hence  they 
term  this  grace  sufficient,  because  it  suffices   of 


ABSURDITIES  INVOLVED.  79 

itself  for  action."  This,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is 
precisely  the  position  occupied  by  the  Cumberland 
Church,  in  common  with  the  great  body  of  the 
Arminians.  It  would  be  an  instructive  lesson 
here  to  trace  the  many  iniquities  into  which  it  has 
led  its  blinded  votaries,  as  guided  by  popes,  car- 
dinals and  priests ;  but  such  a  discussion  would  be 
foreign  to  my  purpose.  It  is  not  my  object  to  aim 
at  presenting  any  new  phase  of  the  subject,  but 
simply  such  views  as  he  that  runs  may  read  and 
understand,  and  have  operated  upon  my  own  mind 
in  leading  me  from  such  a  dark  and  dangerous 
position. 

I  found,  it  is  true,  many  passages  of  Scripture, 
when  isolated  from  their  proper  connection  and 
meaning,  that  seemed  to  favour  this  doctrine ;  but, 
if  followed  out  by  the  light  of  other  portions  of 
the  word  of  God,  no  end  can  be  found  to  the  diffi- 
culties and  absurdities  into  which  it  will  lead  us. 
Some  of  these  I  will  now  briefly  notice. 

It  deprives  the  church,  in  the  first  place,  of 
every  motive  to  energy  and  action,  in  the  great 
work  before  her — a  work  commensurate  with  the 
world's  immortal  interests.  I  will  not  draw  out 
a  lengthy  argument  to  prove  this  fact;  it  is  a 
plain  case,  and  may  be  stated  in  a  few  words. 
The  united  voice  of  the  Methodist  and  Cumberland 


80  ABSTIRDITIES  INVOLVED. 

Churches  will  tell  us  that  Christ  suffered  and 
died  in  the  same  sense  for  every  man ;  and  in 
view  of  the  purchase  of  his  death  God  is  in  justice 
bound  to  deal  out  to  every  man  a  sufi&ciency  of 
grace,  to  enable  him  to  comply  with  the  t^rms  of 
life  as  offered  in  the  gospel ;  and  if  these  terms 
are  not  offered  to  some  by  a  living  ministry,  it 
must  be  done  by  inspiration,  or  some  other  way 
provided  for  their  salvation,  than  that  of  "  repent- 
ance towards  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  I  am  not  speaking  at  random.  '^  Since 
there  is  a  future  life,"  says  Knapp,  a  popular 
author  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  "  we  may  trust 
that  God  will  there  lead  the  heathen  to  that 
higher  degree  of  happiness  and  clearness  of  know- 
ledge which  they  did  not  attain  in  this  life ;  be- 
cause, without  fault  of  their  own,  they  were 
incapable  of  receiving  it.  To  such  a  dispensation 
in  the  future  world,  there  is  at  least  an  allusion 
in  Rev.  xxii.  2, — in  the  tree  of  life  by  the  river 
of  life,  whose  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations."  Knapp's  Theo.  sec.  121.  "God," 
says  Adam  Clarke  in  his  commentary  on  the 
second  chapter  of  Romans,  "has  never  confined 
himself  to  any  07ie  particular  icai/  of  communi- 
cating his  salvation,  any  more  than  he  has  confined 
his  saving  grace  to  one  people ;" — "  as  he  is  no 


ABSURDITIES  INVOLVED.  81 

respecter  of  persons,  all  nations  are  equally  dear 
to  him ;  and  he  has  granted,  and  will  grant  to 
them  such  discoveries  of  himself  as  have  been,  and 
will  be,  sufficient  for  their  salvation/'  "Where 
then,  I  ask,  is  the  necessity  of  an  organized 
Church,  or  the  means  of  grace  ?  What  advantage 
had  the  Jew,  and  what  have  we,  from  the  fact 
that  to  us  are  committed  the  oracles  of  God  ? 
The  millions  of  Asia,  and  of  Africa,  although  in 
the  region  of  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death ; 
although  in  a  land  full  of  the  habitations  of 
cruelty,  superstition  and  idolatry,  are,  accord- 
ing to  this  system,  upon  the  same  platform 
of  mercy  with  ourselves,  have  the  same  amount 
of  grace,  the  same  chance,  and  may  have  the  same 
hope  of  heaven  that  we  enjoy.  And  to  what  pur- 
pose, I  ask,  have  you  been  laboui'ing  so  long  with 
the  poor  savages  upon  our  frontier,  if  prior  to  your 
labours  they  had  a  sufficiency  of  grace,  of  light,  and 
ability  in  order  to  salvation  ?  Such  a  doctrine  is 
infinitely  more  calculated  to  destroy  the  energies 
of  the  Church  than  any  in  the  Calvinistic  system 
can  be.  I  might  here  appeal  to  facts  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church,  as  well  as  to  standard  authority, 
in  proof  of  such  a  position ;  but  I  pass  to  another 
difficulty  that  stood  in  my  way. 

This  doctrine  of  Arminian  grace  involves  many 


82  ABSURDITIES   INVOLVED. 

principles,  not  only  unphilosophical,  but  ruinous 
to  the  cause  of  morals  and  religion,  if  carried  to 
their  legitimate  consequences.  I  shall  not  here 
enter  upon  the  vexed  question  concerning  the 
nature  and  condition  of  human  volitions  and  the 
freedom  of  the  will;  it  is  wholly  unnecessary; 
one  or  two  thoughts  of  a  more  practical  nature 
will  suffice.  The  advocates  of  this  doctrine,  for 
instance,  take  for  granted  a  commonly  received 
maxim,  which,  if  carried  fully  into  practical  life,- 
would  undermine  the  most  important  institutions 
of  society — a  maxim  upon  which  the  Pelagian, 
the  Socinian,  the  Arminian,  the  Papist,  the  Jesuit, 
and  the  libertine,  alike  build  their  creed  and  their 
hopes.  "  Responsibility,"  say  they,  "  can  only  be 
commensurate  with  ability."  Take  this  away,  and 
all  that  is  left  of  the  system  of  each  is  in  ruins. 
In  order  to  test  the  danger  and  absurdity  of  such 
a  position,  apply  the  principle,  for  a  moment,  to 
the  ordinary  regulations  of  society.  Let  a  pro- 
clamation be  issued  by  the  authorities  of  govern- 
ment, declaring  that  all  persons  disabled  with 
regard  to  the  performance  of  any  duty  required  of 
them,  shall  no  longer  be  amenable  to  law.  Look 
at  the  consequences.  The  drunkard  and  the  sot, 
whatever  may  be  the  crimes  they  commit  while 
in  a  state  of  intoxication,  must  go  free ;  not  a  hair 


ABSURDITIES  INVOLVED.  83 

of  their  heads  can  he  touched,  though  for  every 
bottle  of  rum  they  take  the  life  of  a  fellow-being. 
Every  man,  too,  in  a  state  of  heated  passion,  may 
plead  the  same  excuse,  whatever  may  be  the  crime 
he  commits.     The  debauchee,  whose  debasing  and 
brutal  habits  have  destroyed  every  refined  feeling 
and  sensibility  of  the  soul,  may  wallow  in  sensu- 
ality and  vice,  till  his  body  becomes  as  loathsome 
as  the  putrid  carcass,  that  would  even  nauseate 
the  fowl  and  the  worm  that  feed  upon  it,  and  yet 
we  are  to  look  upon  him  with  the  same  degree  of 
complacency  that  marks  our  intercourse  with  the 
virtuous.     And,  if  the  maxim  be  true,  the  blas- 
phemies of  hell  are  as  innocent  as  the  songs  of 
paradise;    for  there  is  no  ability  there  to  love 
Gk)d.     If  responsibility  and  guilt  are  to  be  mea- 
sured by  the  ability  of  the  creature  at  the  time 
the  offence  is  committed,  then  will  Satan  and  his 
legions  be  for  ever  justified  in  their  eternal  and 
fiendish  hatred  of  infinite  purity  and  benevolence. 
The  principle  I  am  contending   for  is  simply 
this  :    The  morality  of  an  act  is  determined  hy 
the   state   of  mind  under  which  it  is  committed. 
Responsibility,  therefore,  in  this  case,  must   be 
referred   to   some   other   standard.     The   sinner 
cannot  free  himself  from  the  charge  of  guilt  upon 
the  plea  of  his  inability.     God  will  not  deprive 


84  ABSURDITIES  INVOLVED. 

any  of  his  intelligent  creatures  of  their  ability  to 
spiritual  good,  to  virtue  and  holiness,  without 
good,  wise,  and  just  reasons.  When  that  ability 
is  lost,  I  care  not  by  what  means  or  instrumen- 
talities it  departs,  they  are  held  responsible  for  all 
that  flows  from  their  corrupt  nature.  It  is  an 
important  principle,  and  should  never  be  lost 
sight  of,  founded  in  reason  and  Scripture,  and 
furnishes  the  only  safeguard  to  the  institutions 
of  society. 

An  opponent  here  steps  up,  and  tells  me  that 
he  is  willing  to  grant  all  this,  but  he  contends 
that  it  is  a  mffLciency  of  grace  that  makes  men  re- 
sponsible after  all.  I  ask,  is  it  grace  that  makes 
devils  responsible,  and  fills  all  hell  with  blasphe- 
mies ?  Is  it  grace  that  has  brought  sin  and  mis- 
ery into  our  world  ?  Is  it  grace  that  has  peopled 
the  regions  of  despair  with  millions  of  immortal 
beings  from  earth  ?  There  is  no  escape  from  an 
affirmative  answer  to  such  questions,  if  it  is  grace 
only  that  makes  men  responsible  ;  for  without  it, 
if  this  be  correct,  no  charge  could  be  brought 
against  them.  I  am  here  told  that  a  distinction 
must  be  made;  that  devils  once  enjoyed  a  proba- 
tionary state  in  the  immediate  presence  of  God 
himself;  but  having  rebelled,  they  were  con- 
demned  and   con>signed   to   the    burning    lake; 


CUMBERLAND   CHURCH.  85 

whereas,  we  come  into  the  workl  with  depraved 
natures,  in  producing  which  we  have  had  no 
agency.  In  reply,  I  answer  in  the  language  of 
the  Westminster  and  Cumberland  Confession  of 
Faith,  that  we  stood  probation  in  Adam,  as  our 
federal  head,  and  ^^  sinned  in  him.,  and  fell  with 
him  in  his  first  transgression  ;"  or  rather,  in  the 
more  expressive  language  of  the  apostle  Paul,  "  by 
one  man's  disobedience  many  were  made  sinners/' 
I  would  here  call  your  attention  again,  in  pass- 
ing, to  the  necessity  that  is  pressing  upon  the 
Cumberland  Church,  and  driving  her  from  every 
Calvinistic  position  in  her  creed  into  the  broad 
and  beaten  road  of  Arminianism.  Already  the 
whole  body  of  the  Church,  as  I  have  before  stated, 
have  departed  from  this  important  and  funda- 
m-ental  truth  of  the  gospel,  the  doctrine  of  impu- 
tation, so  plainly  laid  down  in  her  Confession  of 
Faith,  and  by  the  apostle  Paul  in  his  epistle  to 
the  Romans.  And  now,  there  is  scarcely  a  land- 
mark that  they  can  call  their  own,  except  a  few 
outposts,  that  are  being  erected  by  individual 
effort,  far  off  in  the  regions  of  Pelagian  night.  I 
will  resume  this  subject  again  in  my  next. 

Your  affectionate  son. 
8 


LETTER  VIII. 

SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED— CHRISTIAN  DEPRIVED 
OF  ALL  ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  PRAYER — ^AND  GOD 
OF  HIS  GLORY,  AUTHORITY  AND  POWER — GOD 
HUMBLED  AND  ABASED,  AND  THE   SINNER  EX- 


ALTED. 


Dear  Father: — The  principles  that  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  the  Arminian  doctrine  of  ability  and 
grace,  are  not  only  calculated  to  destroy  the  ener- 
gies of  the  Church,  and  unhinge  the  institutions 
of  society,  as  I  have  endeavoured  to  show,  but 
they  go  still  farther ;  they  enter  the  Christian's 
closet,  and  destroy  the  life  and  soul  of  his  private 
devotions.  They  are  calculated  to  dry  up  every 
fountain,  and  destroy  every  spring  of  religious 
feeling  and  action.  This  you  cannot  fail  to  see 
by  looking  at  the  subject  for  a  moment  in  a  prac- 
tical way — directing  your  thoughts  to  one  in  whose 
present  and  everlasting  well-being  you  can  but 
feel  the  deepest  interest. 

You  have  a  son,  my  only  and  dear  brother,  who 
makes  no  pretensions  to  piety,  and  whose  mind 
(86) 


DEPRIVED   OF  ENCOURAGEMENT,  &C.         87 

is  absorbed  in  worldly  pursuits  and  pleasures. 
Every  morning  and  every  evening  a  parent's  heart 
is  burdened  with  petitions  at  a  throne  of  grace  for 
converting  power  that  he  may  be  made  wise  unto 
salvation.  What  encouragement  thus  to  pray, 
can  be  drawn  from  a  scheme  of  which  this  doctrine 
of  universal  and  sufficient  grace  forms  an  important 
part  ?  None.  Not  a  ray  of  hope  lightens  up  and 
cheers  the  Christian's  closet  when  wrestling  with 
God  for  the  unconverted.  If  Arminians  are  right, 
if  the  Cumberland  Church  is  right,  heaven  has 
already  guarantied  to  every  man  a  certain  amount 
of  grace,  and  all  the  prayers  of  men,  of  saints,  and 
angels,  although  clad  in  sackcloth,  and  prostrated 
before  the  eternal  throne  in  the  most  humble  sup- 
plication, could  not  prevail  upon  God  to  add  any- 
thing to  that  grace  already  bestowed,  until  it  is 
properly  improved.  And  when  the  sinner  im- 
proves that  grace,  as  required  of  him,  the  attri- 
butes of  God,  yea,  the  throne  of  God  is  pledged 
for  the  bestowal  of  more ;  and  if  the  new  supply 
is  improved,  still  more  is  granted ;  and  so  on  till 
he  is  brought  into  the  kingdom.  If  this  be  true, 
then,  we  say,  all  our  petitions,  although  they  may 
rise  from  burdened,  aching  and  bursting  hearts, 
can  avail  nothing  for  the  salvation  of  the  uncon- 
verted.    How  chilling  the  thought  to  the  pious 


88      DEPRIVES  GOD  OF  HIS  GLORY. 

soul !  What  encouragement  have  we  as  ambassa- 
dors of  Christ,  to  give  ourselves  to  prayer  as  well 
as  to  the  ministry  of  the  word  ?  What  encour- 
agement can  the  devoted  missionary  of  the  cross 
draw  from  the  fact  that  he  is  followed  by  the 
prayers  of  the  church,  and  his  cause  statedly  re- 
membered before  a  throne  of  grace  ?  If  salvation 
is  conditioned  upon  the  will  of  the  creature,  in- 
stead of  the  will  of  God,  there  can  be  none. 

I  have  before  shown  that  this  doctrine  deprives 
the  Church  of  all  motive  to  intelligent  labour; 
what  then  is  left  for  her  to  do,  if  her  prayers  can 
avail  nothing  at  a  throne  of  grace  for  the  uncon- 
verted ?  She  can  only  fold  her  arms  in  sleep,  and 
wait  for  the  day  of  the  creature's  power  and  will. 
Now  and  then,  it  is  true,  she  may  shake  off  her 
slumbers,  and  put  forth  a  spasmodic  effort  in  her 
fitful  operations,  not  to  enlighten  nor  to  convince 
— for  such  influences  are  already  guarantied — ^but 
simply  to  get  up  some  kind  of  religious  excitement 
to  save  the  craft,  and  bring  the  will  to  its  "  self- 
determining"  point.  This  is  all  that  can  be  aimed 
at  upon  such  a  system ;  and  when  accomplished, 
what  security  have  you  that  your  work  will  stand 
for  a  single  hour  ? 

But  we  will  go  further  still.  Not  only  do  the 
principles  contained  in  the  doctrine  of  Arminiaa 


OF  HIS  AUTHORITY  AND  POWER.  89 

grace  affect  the  Christian  in  his  relations  to  the 
Church,  to  society,  and  to  his  God,  as  shown 
above,  but  they  lead  us  into  the  very  presence  of 
Grod,  and  mar  the  most  essential  attributes  of  the 
divine  character;  yea,  more,  if  carried  out  to 
their  legitimate  and  utmost  limit,  they  would  even 
destroy  every  vestige  of  the  glory,  the  authority, 
and  power,  of  the  divine  Being, 
i  It  is  common  for  Cumberland  Presbyterians  and 
others  to  illustrate  this  doctrine  by  what  is  called 
'^  an  equilibrium  of  forces.^^  The  world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  devil,  are  represented  as  pulling  the  sin- 
ner in  one  direction,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  in  an- 
other, till  the  two  opposing  forces  are  equally 
balanced.  It  is  then  left  "  to  the  self-determining 
power  of  the  will"  to  give  efficiency  to  the  one  or 
the  other,  as  it  may  see  proper  to  decide.  The 
same  idea  is  sometimes  presented  under  the  figure 
of  a  balance — the  pivot  upon  which  it  is  sus- 
pended, representing  the  will.  The  devil  is 
represented  as  hanging  all  his  weights  upon 
one  arm  of  the  scales,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  as 
suspending  a  counteracting  influence  upon  the 
other,  till  an  equilihrium  is  produced.  It  is  then 
left  ^0  the  self-moving  power  of  the  pivot  to  give 
the  predominating  influence.  To  say  nothing  of 
the  philosophy  contained  in  such  illustrations, 


90   GOD  ROBBED  OF  HIS  AUTHORITY,  &C. 

may  I  not  with  far  more  propriety  bring  the 
charge  that  is  so  often  urged  by  Cumberland 
Presbyterians  and  others  against  the  Calvinistic 
system — the  charge  of  mockery  and  insincerity 
upon  the  part  of  God  in  his  dealings  with  the 
sinner — mockery,  not  only  of  the  sinner  himself, 
but  of  him  who  died  for  his  redemption  ?  I  say 
it  with  emphasis,  yet  with  reverence  and  respect. 
Can  it  be  that  the  Son  of  God  was  bathed  in  the 
sweat  of  his  own  blood,  and  hung  and  died  upon 
the  rugged  spikes  of  the  cross  beneath  the  hidings 
of  his  Father's  face,  and  yet  all  that  is  done  for 
those  for  whom  he  thus  died,  is  to  deal  out  to 
them  simply  an  influence  equal  in  amount  to  that 
which  is  dragging  them  to  the  pit  ?  Can  it  be 
that  the  thousands  that  daily  crowd  the  gates  of 
hell  might  have  been  saved,  if  only  one  more  ray 
of  light  had  broke  in  upon  their  darkness — if  the 
feeblest  breath  of  heaven,  the  smallest  particle  of 
down  from  an  angel's  wing  had  only  been  thrown 
into  the  scales — if  the  least  possible  influence  had 
only  been  added  to  that  already  exerted  upon 
them,  and  yet  that  influence  withheld  ?  Is  this 
the  operation  of  infinite  power  as  guided  by 
infinite  love  ?  And  can  it  be  that  the  heart  that 
beat  in  the  bosom  of  God,  and  bled  upon  the  cross 
for  human  woes,  is  "  satisfied"  with  such  a  display? 


god's  power  lighted.  91 

Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  infinite  love,  and 
wisdom,  and  power  could  withhold  so  small  a 
pittance  of  grace  necessary  to  complete  the  work 
of  the  soul's  redemption,  that  has  already  cost 
such  an  outlay  of  blood  and  treasure  ?  If  such 
questions  can  be  answered  in  the  affirmative — as 
they  must  if  this  doctrine  of  Arminian  grace  be 
true — then,  I  ask,  where  are  the  feelings  in  the 
divine  bosom,  corresponding  to  those  revealed  in 
his  word  ? 

When  pressed  upon  this  point,  both  Methodists 
and  Cumberland  Presbyterians  tell  us  that  God 
does  all  he  can  to  save  the  sinner — that  his  power 
is  limited  by  the  free  agency  of  the  creature — that 
all  the  means  that  heaven  could  devise  are  ex- 
hausted. They  go  even  farther  than  this.  They 
tell  us  with  a  most  unblushing  confidence,  that  it 
is  impossible  for  God  to  prevent  sin  in  a  moral 
government — that  after  the  creation  of  man,  om- 
nipotence itself  could  not  prevent  him  from  falling. 
I  will  not  attempt  here  to  follow  this  view  of  the 
power  and  moral  government  of  God  to  its  legiti- 
mate consequences — its  difficulties,  absurdities  and 
blasphemies.  Their  name  is  legion,  which  no  man 
can  number  and  no  man  can  bind.  It  involves 
the  insecurity  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  wretch- 
edness of  God,   and  the  everlasting  misery  of 


92  PRIDE  CHERISHED. 

millions  of  his  creatures  whose  salvation  is  beyond 
his  reach. 

Once  more :  another  tendency  and  necessary 
result  of  the  doctrine  under  consideration,  is  to 
cultivate  in  the  human  heart  a  feeling,  the  de- 
struction of  which  is  the  great  aim  of  the  gospel, 
and  essential  to  the  happiness  of  man.  It  is  that 
of  pride — the  strongest  elementary  principle  of  our 
carnal  nature  at  work  in  the  human  heart.  In  its 
incipient  stages,  it  has  destroyed  the  image  of  God 
as  stamped  upon  the  soul  in  a  state  of  innocency ; 
it  has  brought  ruin,  misery  and  death  upon  our 
race ;  it  has  done  more  to  destroy  the  temporal 
peace  and  happiness  of  man,  than  any  other  feel- 
ing of  his  nature ;  it  has  presented  more  obstacles 
to  the  plans  and  purposes  of  God  upon  earth,  than 
any  other;  and  remains  unmoved  amid  all  his 
judgments  and  threatenings  as  revealed  in  his 
providence  and  word.  A  salvation  from  sin,  then,, 
must  put  down  this  feeling  in  all  its  workings. 
God  must  be  exalted  and  the  sinner  abased.  God 
must  be  just  while  the  sinner  is  condemned  ;  and, 
if  saved  at  all,  the  glory  is  due  to  sovereign  and 
invincible  grace  alone.  There  is  no  foothold 
upon  which  the  sinner  can  stand  and  claim  any- 
thing to  himself  Christ  is  made  unto  us  wisdom, 
and  righteousness,   and    sanctification,   and    re- 


GOD   DISHONOURED.  93 

demption,  tliat,  according  as  it  is  written,  he  that 
glorieth,  let  him  glory  in  the  Lord.  1  Cor.  i.  30, 
81.  It  is  not  so,  if  Arminianism  be  correct — 
it  is  impossible.  Everything  is  here  reversed; 
God  is  abased  and  the  sinner  exalted ,  God  is 
unjust  while  the  sinner  is  innocent  and  unfor- 
tunate in  his  condemnation ;  God  has  humbled 
himself  from  the  very  necessity  of  the  case ;  the 
creature  is  exalted,  not  by  the  grace  and  power  of 
God,  but  by  the  "  self-determination"  of  his  own 
will.  God  has  done  nothing  toward  his  sal- 
vation but  what  he  was  in  justice  bound  to  do ; 
and  the  creature  has  all  the  glory  to  himself.  I 
am  not  now  speaking  of  the  extremes  of  Arminian 
error,  as  found  in  the  systems  of  the  Pelagians 
and  others.  I  refer  simply  to  that  one  funda- 
mental principle  of  Arminianism  upon  which  the 
Cumberland  Church  have  learned  to  gaze  as  their 
jpolar  star  of  theology.  Look  at  the  whole  scheme 
as  it  stands  out  before  us,  and  see  if  I  am  not 
right. 

We  are  told,  with  confidence  and  emphasis,  that 
without  some  method  of  forgiveness  and  restora- 
tion, the  providences  of  God  to  our  race  would  be 
unjust — that  without  the  offer  of  life,  the  misery, 
the  wretchedness,  and  the  death  to  which  all  are 
doomed  would  convulse  the  universe.     So  say  the 


94  THE   SINNER  EXALTED. 

oracles  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  the  same 
sentiment  is  loudly  echoed  from  the  pulpit  of  the 
Cumberland  Church.  As  an  off-set  or  compensa- 
tion for  these  evils,  say  they,  God  has  brought 
life  and  immortality  to  light  through  a  Redeemer. 
It  was  a  debt,  then,  that  God  owed  to  the  unfor- 
tunate race  of  man.  Here  we  find  introduced  the 
doctrine  under  consideration.  It  stands  thus : 
God  is  bound,  not  by  the  laws  of  his  nature 
merely,  but  by  the  necessity  of  the  case,  to  furnish 
a  Redeemer,  and  bring  life  and  immortality  to 
light ;  he  is,  by  the  same  rule,  bound  to  furnish 
to  every  man  a  ''  sufficiency  of  grace"  to  enable 
him  to  understand  and  accept  the  terms  of  life. 
If,  then,  it  is  left  to  any  imaginary  spontaneity  or 
"  self-determining  power''  in  man  to  render  effica- 
cious that  grace,  I  ask,  where  is  the  mercy,  the 
love,  and  the  grace  of  the  gospel.  Grace  is  no 
longer  grace — love  is  no  longer  love — and  instead 
of  justice  and  mercy  reciprocating  the  kiss  of  re- 
conciliation at  the  cross,  it  was  justice  and  cruelty 
that  met  and  embraced  each  other  in  mockery ; 
justice  with  a  sword  bathed  in  innocent  blood, 
and  cruelty  robed  in  the  garb  of  mercy.  And  to 
what  a  degraded  position  is  the  great  God  brought 
upon  such  a  scheme !  He  humbles  himself  to 
indemnify  a  race  of  creatures  he  has  injured  !    He 


THE   SINNER  EXALTED.  95 

sends  his  Son  into  the  world  to  reveal  his  will,  and 
the  plan  proposed — to  make  an  apology  to  the 
universe  for  what  he  has  done  and  what  he  intends 
doing ;  his  Spirit  also  is  sent,  a  church  is  organ- 
ized, and  a  living  ministry  appointed  to  carry  out 
that  plan.  And  now  to  what  a  pinnacle  of  pride 
is  the  creature  exalted,  who,  with  his  Maker  under 
his  feet  as  debtor ,  and  with  the  keys  of  heaven 
and  hell  at  his  command,  can  do  as  he  listeth ! 
It  is  enough.  The  mind  recoils  from  the  con- 
templation of  such  absurdities ;  and  my  pen  re- 
fuses to  record  the  feelings  of  my  heart. 

A  single  remark,  and  I  will  close  this  com- 
munication. If  those  who  hold  to  Arminian  sen- 
timents, would  make  a  practical  and  personal 
application  of  the  old  adage,  which  teaches  that 
those  who  live  in  glass  houses  should  not  throw 
stones — ^if  they  would  only  look  well  to  their  own 
views,  they  would  find  cause  to  spare  much  of  the 
abusive  language  and  epithets  they  are  accustomed 
to  heap  upon  the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  or  rather  their  perversion  and  caricatures 
of  those  doctrines.  Your  afi'ectionate  son. 


LETTER  IX. 

SAME    SUBJECT    CONTINUED ARGUMENT    FROM 

SCRIPTURE — COVENANT  OF  GRACE. 

Dear  Father: — Sucli  difficulties  as  I  have 
mentioned,  growing  out  of  the  Arminian  doctrine 
of  ^^  sufficient  grace/'  multiplying  upon  my  path, 
led  me  to  a  more  careful  perusal  of  the  Scriptures 
upon  the  subject.  It  was  not  until  my  mind  was 
satisfied  here,  that  I  was  induced  to  abandon  the 
position,  and  receive  the  teachings  of  inspiration 
upon  other  points  with  meekness  and  submission. 
I  shall  not,  by  any  means,  attempt  to  collate  and 
comment  upon  the  many  passages  of  Scripture 
bearing  upon  this  doctrine.  I  have  neither  time 
nor  occasion  to  undertake  such  a  task.  Your  at- 
tention is  kindly  solicited  only  to  one  or  two,  out 
of  the  many  that  might  be  adduced. 

There  is  one  passage  on  which  my  mind  ha-a 
often  dwelt  with  delight  and  profit,  both  from  its 
peculiar  adaptation  to  the  subject  under  considera- 
tion, and  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was 
delivered.  It  was  first  announced  by  the  prophet 
(96) 


scriptuhe  argument.  97 

Jeremiah  to  the  disconsolate  Jews,  and  reiterated 
with  peculiar  and  marked  emphasis  by  the  apostle 
Paul  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  his  letter  to  the 
Hebrews.  It  reads  thus :  ^^  Behold,  the  days 
come,  saith  the  Lord,  when  I  will  make  a  new 
covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel,  and  with  the 
house  of  Judah :  not  according  to  the  covenant 
that  I  made  with  their  fathers  in  the  day  when  I 
took  them  by  the  hand  to  lead  them  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt ;  because  they  continued  not  in  my 
covenant,  and  I  regarded  them  not,  saith  the  Lord. 
For  this  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the 
house  of  Israel  after  those  days,  saith  the  Lord. 
I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  mind,  and  write  them 
in  their  hearts ;  and  I  will  be  to  them  a  God,  and 
they  shall  be  to  me  a  people.  And  they  shall 
not  teach  every  man  his  neighbour,  and  every 
man  his  brother,  saying,  Know  the  Lord ;  for  all 
shall  know  me,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest. 
For  I  wiU  be  merciful  to  their  unrighteousness, 
and  their  sins  and  their  iniquities  will  I  remember 
no  more." 

Three  distinct  covenants  have  been  entered  into 
by  God  with  man,  in  which  have  been  offered  to 
him  the  blessings  of  eternal  life.  Two  of  these 
having  failed  to  accomplish  their  end,  have  passed 
away  and  are  no  longer  in  force ;  though  the  ulti- 
9 


98  THE   COVENANTS. 

mate   and   secret   purposes   of    God   have    been 
fulfilled  in  them,  as  in  all  that  he  does. 

The  first  was  a  representative  plan,  adapted 
only  to  a  state  of  innocency,  in  which  our  first 
parents  were  placed  upon  trial,  not  only  for  them- 
selves, but  those  also  "  descending  from  them  by 
ordinary  generation."  The  consequences  in  this 
case  were  disastrous — the  covenant  was  broken, 
and  the  hopes  of  man  seem  buried  forever  in  the 
ruins  of  the  fall.  The  sentence,  "dying  thou 
shalt  die,"  shattered  his  physical  frame,  by  which 
he  was  left  exposed  to  the  rude  attacks  of  disease, 
and  finally  to  become  a  victim  of  death,  and  to  rot 
in  the  grave.  It  left  the  immortal  spirit  deserted 
by  the  divine  influence,  and  exposed  to  the  with- 
ering and  wasting  moral  disease  that  was  to 
terminate  in  the  deathless  agonies  of  the  second 
death.  It  left  our  world  exposed  to  the  curse  of 
a  broken  and  immutable  law,  and  to  the  eye 
of  sense,  in  a  helpless  and  hopeless  condition. 

Vain  now  are  the  efforts  of  man  to  revive  the 
broken  contract  or  the  covenant  of  works,  as  it  is 
called,  as  a  means  of  salvation.  Vain  are  the 
efforts  of  the  moralist  by  which  he  goes  about  to 
establish  a  righteousness  of  his  own,  to  secure  the 
favour  of  God  and  the  reward  of  eternal  life.  The 
"  filthy  rags"  of  such  a  righteousness  will  only 


THE   COVENANTS.  99 

serve  to  render  still  more  exposed  and  deformed 
his  nakedness  and  shame.  Two  insurmountable 
difficulties  lie  in  the  way.  1.  The  law  requires 
an  obedience  which  the  sinner  is  not  able  to 
render  :  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  Grod  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself;"  and 
"  cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all 
things  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do 
them.^'  2.  The  sinner's  life  is  already  forfeited 
for  past  offences — the  penalty  of  the  law  must  be 
met  and  the  claims  of  justice  satisfied;  for, 
^'  without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  re- 
mission of  sins.'^ 

Since  the  fall  of  man  and  his  banishment  from 
the  garden,  two  important  covenants  have  marked 
his  history,  embodying  the  terms  of  life  and  par- 
don— the  one  under  the  old,  and  the  other  under 
the  new  dispensation.  The  former  of  these 
proving  to  be  defective,  was  annulled  after  the 
purposes  of  God  were  accomplished  by  it ;  the 
latter,  being  "  established  upon  better  promises," 
comes  to  us  laden  with  all  the  purchased  blessings 
of  the  gospel,  and  makes  full  and  ample  provision 
for  all  the  wants  of  man  in  his  lost  and  ruined 
condition.  The  points  of  superiority  of  this  cove- 
nant over  the  former,  as  presented  to  us  in  the 
passage  already  quoted,  have  an  important  bearing 


100  THE   COVENANTS. 

upon  the  subject  under  consideration,  and  are 
•worthy  of  more  than  the  passing  notice  I  shall  be 
able  to  give  them  here. 

1.  It  contemplates  a  universal  diffusion  of  a 
knowledge  of  God — "  All  shall  know  me  from  the 
least  to  the  greatest.'^  Under  the  old  dispen- 
sation, all  that  was  known  of  God  was  revealed  in 
the  law  of  Moses,  the  shadowy  rites  of  the  temple- 
service,  and  the  extraordinary  communications 
made  to  those  raised  up  for  a  particular  purpose. 
Such  sources  of  knowledge  were  limited  and  ob- 
scure, and  were  insufficient  to  save  the  Jewish 
people  from  idolatry  and  rebellion  against  God. 
But  under  the  new  covenant  or  dispensation,  it  is 
not  so.  Every  truth  essential  to  the  happiness 
and  salvation  of  man  is  presented  in  the  full 
revelation  that  God  has  made  of  himself,  in  the 
gospel  of  his  Son,  and  every  facility  is  offered  for 
acquiring  a  knowledge  of  that  truth.  The  prom- 
ise is  even  now  literally  fulfilled.  The  cove- 
nant being  made  with  Israel — with  the  church 
of  God — none  says  to  his  neighbour,  Know 
the  Lord ;  for  all  know  him,  from  the  least  to 
the  greatest.  The  Sabbath-school  scholar  may 
learn  more  of  God  and  the  plan  of  salvation, 
by  means  and  facilities  placed  in  his  hands, 
than  the  most  learned  of  the  priests  or  Scribes 


THE   COVENANTS.  101 

that  ministered  daily  in  the  temple  and  syna- 
gogue service. 

It  was  in  allusion  to  this  fact,  doubtless,  that 
our  Saviour  said  to  the  multitudes  that  had 
attended  upon  the  ministry  of  John  :  "Among 
those  that  are  born  of  women  there  is  not  a 
greater  prophet  than  John  the  Baptist ;  but  he 
that  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater 
than  he.''  What  then,  I  ask,  becomes  of  the 
levelling  system  of  Arminians  ? — of  "  the  dis- 
coveries of  himself,"  that  Grod  makes  to  those 
who  are  not  of  Israel,  according  to  Adam  Clarke 
and  those  who  sympathize  with  him  in  this  doc- 
trine of  universal  and  sufficient  grace  ?  If  the 
least  in  the  kingdom  of  God  has  more  of  these 
"  discoveries"  than  he  who  was  sent  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  Messiah,  what  an  impassable 
gulf,  what  a  world  of  night  must  there  be 
"between  such  and  those  upon  whom  the  wrath  of 
God  abides,  who  have  "  changed  the  glory  of  the 
incorruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like  to 
corruptible  man,  and  to  birds,  and  four-footed 
beasts,  and  creeping  things;"  "having  the  un- 
derstanding darkened,  being  alienated  from  the 
life  of  God,  through  the  ignorance  that  is  in 
them,  because  of  the  blindness  of  their  heart ; 
who,  being  past  feeling,  have  given  themselves 
9* 


102  THE  COVENANTS. 

over  unto  lasciviousness,  to  work  all  uncleanness 
with  greediness."    Rom.  i.  23.    Eph.  iv.  18,  19. 

2.  This  new  covenant  made  with  the  church  of 
God  makes  full  and  adequate  provision  for  the 
forgiveness  of  sin.  "I  will  be  merciful  to  their 
unrighteousncsSj  and  their  sins  and  their  iniquities 
will  I  remember  no  more." 

In  this  respect,  the  covenant  made  at  Sinai  was 
defective  also.  It  promised,  it  is  true,  forgive- 
ness to  those  who  would  repent  and  turn  unto 
God;  but  the  institutions  of  that  covenant,  in 
themselves  considered,  contained  nothing  upon 
which  could  be  based  the  full  acquittal  of  the 
sinner  from  the  charge  of  guilt.  "It  is  not 
possible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats 
should  take  away  sins."  Nevertheless,  the  sac- 
rifices and  institutions  of  the  ceremonial  law, 
though  having  no  efficacy  in  themselves,  pointed 
the  devout  and  believing  Jew  to  the  great  sac- 
rifice that  God  himself  was  to  ofier  up  in  the 
fulness  of  the  time.  The  time  has  come — the 
Lamb  of  God  has  been  offered — ample  provision 
is  now  made  for  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  the 
everlasting  salvation  of  those  who  accept  of  it 
as  presented  in  the  gospel;  and  what  is  more, 
to  such  the  promise  is,  "  I  will  be  to  them  a  God, 
aud  they  shall  be  to  me  a  people."     I  will  be 


THE   COVENANTS.  103 

their  God,  their  benefactor,  their  preserver,  their 
defender,  and  everlasting  source  of  life.  But  this 
is  not  all.  The  provisions  of  the  covenant  of 
grace  stop  not  here,  else  man  would  still  have  been 
without  hope. 

8.  It  provides  for  the  fulfilment  of  those  con- 
ditions upon  which  all  is  suspended.  ^^  I  will  put 
my  laws  into  their  mind  and  wi"ite  them  in  their 
hearts.''  Here  was  the  prominent  defect  of  the 
old  covenant.  When  God  descended  upon  the 
burning  mount  to  deliver  the  tables  of  the  law, 
together  with  the  ceremonial  institutions  of  the 
Jewish  economy,  every  promise  made  was  condi- 
tioned upon  some  external  act  of  obedience  or  of 
worship.  If  the  Jew  desired  temporal  prosperity 
or  length  of  days,  a  strict  obedience  to  all  the  re- 
quirements of  the  law  was  to  be  rendered  ]  if  he 
asked  forgiveness  of  sin,  the  smiles  of  God,  and  the 
hope  of  heaven,  sacrifices  were  to  be  oflfered  at  the 
appointed  time,  and  in  the  appointed  way ',  and 
this  with  the  eye  of  faith  resting  not  upon  the 
bleeding  victim  of  the  altar,  but  upon  the  victim 
that  was  to  bleed  upon  the  cross,  "  the  Lamb  of 
God  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.''  But 
while  every  promise  was  thus  conditioned  upon 
the  performance  of  some  stipulated  duty,  the  grace 
necessary  to  enable  the  sinner  to  comply  with  the 


104  THE   COVENANTS. 

required  conditions  was  not  pledged.  Its  lan- 
guage in  this  respect  was  similar  to  that  of 
the  law — ^'  do  this  and  live."  The  vital  prin- 
ciple thus  being  withheld,  and  prompted  by  their 
own  hearts,  the  Jews  not  only  failed  to  comply 
with  the  proposed  conditions,  but  rebelled  against 
God,  ''  turned  quickly  out  of  the  way,  their 
fathers  walked  in,"  ^'  went  a-whoring  after  other 
gods,"  and  brought  upon  themselves  the  severest 
judgments  of  heaven.  ^'  They  continued  not  in 
my  covenant,  and  I  regarded  them  not,  saith  the 
Lord.^' 

The  same  general  idea  is  incidentally,  yet  for- 
cibly, presented  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Paul's 
epistle  to  the  Galatians.  ^^It  is  written,"  says 
he,  "  that  Abraham  had  two  sons ;  the  one  by  a 
bond  maid,  the  other  by  a  free  woman.  But  he 
who  was  of  the  bond  woman  was  born  after  the 
flesh ;  but  he  of  the  free  woman  was  by  promise. 
Which  things  are  an  allegory ;  for  these  are  the 
two  covenants  :  the  one  from  Mount  Sinai,  which 
gendereth  to  bondage,  which  is  Agar.  For  this 
Agar  is  Mount  Sinai  in  Arabia,  and  answereth  to 
Jerusalem  which  now  is,  and  is  in  bondage  with 
her  children.  But  Jerusalem,  which  is  above,  is 
free,  which  is  the  mother  of  us  all."  According 
to  this  instructive  allegory,  we  are  born  not  as 


THE   COVENANTS.  105 

Ishmael,  who  came  tlirough  the  "combined 
agency"  of  the  free  and  the  bond — of  Abraham 
and  Agar — begotten  by  the  power  that  was  given 
to  the  one  in  his  old  and  decrepid  age,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  youthful  and  native  strength  of  the 
other.  Such  is  not  our  birth.  "  We  brethren/' 
says  Paul,  "  as  Isaac  was,  are  children  of  the 
promise."  All  the  agencies  concerned  in  our 
spiritual  birth,  as  in  the  natural  birth  of  Isaac, 
are  fruitless  even  to  old  age,  until  made  efficient 
by  the  power  and  grace  of  God.  Here  we  say, 
was  one  of  the  prominent  and  marked  defects  of 
the  covenant  made  at  Sinai,  answering  to  the 
Jerusalem  that  once  was ;  it  left  all  those  who 
were  parties  to  it,  and  not  to  the  new,  in  bondage, 
simply  from  the  fact  that  no  efficient  grace  was 
stipulated  to  enable  them  to  comply  with  its 
terms. 

But  notwithstanding  this  failure  of  the  Sinaitic 
covenant,  this  its  most  prominent  and  defective 
feature  is  incorporated  as  a  cardinal  doctrine  upon 
the  system  of  those  who  hold  to  Arminian  senti- 
ments— it  is  found  in  the  very  doctrine  now  under 
consideration.  Christ  is  set  forth  crucified  as  the 
Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world ; 
the  promises  of  the  gospel  are  held  out  to  comfort 
and  encourage;   obedience  is  enjoined;   pardoa 


106  THE   COVENANTS. 

and  the  blessings  of  eternal  life  are  offered ;  but 
all  is  conditioned  upon  the  will  of  the  creature, 
and  no  grace  presented  to  secure  the  fulfilment 
of  the  conditions  required;  the  free,  sovereign, 
and  efficient  power,  and  grace  of  God,  have  no- 
thing to  do  with  the  work.  Those  born  under 
such  a  system,  Paul  would  say,  are  children  of 
the  bond  women,  and  not  of  the  free,  and  corres- 
pond to  the  Jerusalem  that  once  was,  and  re- 
mained in  bondage  with  her  children  till  cast  out. 
The  Jerusalem  that  is  from  above,  and  is  the 
mother  of  us  all,  is  under  a  different  covenant. 

^'  This  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with 
the  house  of  Israel,  after  those  days,  saith  the 
Lord.  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  mind  and 
write  them  in  their  hearts."  I  will  not  only 
make  a  full  revelation  of  myself  in  the  character 
and  work  of  one  who  shall  be  constituted  the  light 
of  the  world  3  but  I  will  open  the  eyes  of  their 
understandings ;  I  will  so  illume  the  darkness  of 
their  minds  that  they  may  see  and  understand  the 
wonderful  things  contained  in  my  law,  that  they 
may  know  him  whom  to  know  aright  is  life  eternal. 
Yet  more :  I  will  write  my  law  in  their  hearts ', 
they  shall  not  only  see  and  understand,  but  my 
grace  shall  make  effectual  the  truth ;  my  precepts, 
and  my  commandments  shall  be  engraven  upon 


THE   COVENANTS.  107 

their  hearts  in  as  legible  and  durable  a  manner  as 
the  law  upon  the  tables  of  stone,  upon  the  summit 
of  the  burning  mount.  They  shall  love  me  and 
walk  in  my  ways,  and  I  will  be  to  them  a  God 
and  they  shall  be  to  me  a  people. 

Here  is  the  plan  upon  which  God  bestows  the 
purchased  blessings  of  the  gospel.  Here  is  that 
everlasting  covenant  that  was  laid  in  the  counsels 
of  eternity,  and  executed  under  the  sovereign  will 
and  purpose  of  God  in  his  own  time  and  in  his 
own  way.  Here  rest  the  hopes  of  the  Church. 
The  omnipotence  of  God  is  pledged  for  her  de- 
fence; his  sovereign  power  and  grace  are  promised 
for  the  ingathering  of  those  who  shall  be  heirs  of 
salvation.  Nothing  more  could  be  desired,  yet 
nothing  less  would  suffice.  Look,  for  a  moment, 
at  the  Israel  of  God  under  a  cov-enant  in  which 
such  an  influence  was  not  stipulated.  See  their 
fears  amid  the  dividing  waters  of  the  sea,  after 
they  had  witnessed  such  miracles  as  had  been 
wrought  for  their  deliverance.  See  them  bowing 
to  the  golden  calf  at  the  foot  of  the  trembling 
mount,  whose  summit  is  wrapped  in  clouds  and 
smoke,  where  God  is  holding  converse  with  3Ioses, 
their  leader.  Follow  them  on  through  the  wilder- 
ness, and  mark  their  murmurings  and  their  rebel- 
lion.    Follow  them  on  through  all  the  judgments 


108  THE   COVENANTS. 

and  mercies  of  God  that  are  visited  upon  them, 
and  what  a  lesson  is  furnished  to  us  of  the  neces- 
sity of  divine  efficiency  in  the  salvation  of  man  ! 
Strike  this  one  article  from  the  covenant  of 
grace,  as  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  together  with 
the  whole  body  of  Arminians,  have  done,  and  with 
it  are  entombed  all  our  hopes  for  the  Church  and 
the  world.  And  how  sad  the  reflection  that  it  is 
so  often  abused  and  caricatured,  by  those  who 
would  be  heirs  of  the  promises  made  to  the  spir- 
itual seed  of  Abraham.  But  it  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at — it  was  so  under  the  old  dispensation. 
"As  then,"  says  Paul,  "  he  that  was  born  after 
the  flesh,  persecuted  him  that  was  born  after  the 
spirit,  even  so  it  is  now.''  And  so  it  will  always 
be,  until  "the  bond  woman  and  her  son"  are 
"cast  out" — until  there  shall  be  found  none  in 
the  family  of  Abraham,  but  those  who  are  willing 
to  ascribe  their  spiritual  birth  to  the  sovereign 
power  and  efficient  grace  of  God. 

Your  afiectionate  son. 


LETTER  X. 

THE  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED — TESTIMONY  OP 
FAMILIAR  PASSAGES  OF  SCRIPTURE — A  DIFFI- 
CULTY REMOVED. 

Dear  Father: — The  view  I  have  presented 
of  the  covenant  of  grace,  illustrative  of  the  doc- 
trine of  divine  efficiency  in  the  sinner's  conversion, 
is  one  that  beautifully  harmonizes  with  every  part 
of  the  plan  of  salvation;  is  sustained  by  every 
passage  of  Scripture,  bearing  upon  the  subject, 
when  considered  in  its  proper  connection  and 
meaning ;  and  enters  into  the  devotions  of  every 
pious  heart.  A  fruitful  field  of  illustration  and 
proof  is  here  opened  out  before  me.  But  I  can 
refer  you  only  to  a  few  out  of  the  many  passages 
that  might  be  presented. 

"  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy,^'  says  Paul,  ^^  for 
his  great  love,  wherewith  he  loved  us,  even  when 
we  were  dead  in  sins,  hath  quickened  us  together 
with  Christ.'^  Eph.  ii.  4,  5.  The  figure  here  in- 
troduced is  one  in  common  use,  and  from  which 
its  meaning  may  be  easily  determined.  Thus 
10  (109) 


110  TESTIMONY  FROM   SCRIPTURE. 

when  we  say  that  a  man  is  dead,  without  any 
qualifying  expression,  we  mean  that  he  is  incapa- 
ble of  feeling  or  action ;  but  when  the  word  is  used 
figuratively,  its  meaning  must  be  determined  by  the 
connection.  If  I  say  of  a  man  that  he  is  dead  to 
every  feeling  of  humanity,  you  understand  by  the 
expression  that  he  is  incapable  of  exercising  a  be- 
nevolent feeling,  till  that  particular  feature  in  his 
character  is  changed.  If  I  say  of  another  who  has 
become  hardened  in  crime,  and  has  trampled  un- 
der foot  every  law  and  statute  of  the  land,  that  he 
is  dead  to  the  interest  and  welfare  of  society,  you 
understand  me  to  say  that  he  is  incapable  of 
another  class  of  feelings,  till  his  character  is  radi- 
cally changed.  If  I  say  of  another  that  he  has 
become  so  steeped  in  drunkenness  and  debauchery 
that  he  is  dead  to  virtue,  to  shame,  and  every  re- 
fined feeling  of  our  nature,  you  understand  me  to 
say  that  he  is  insensible  to  any  other  desire  but 
that  of  gratifying  a  slavish  appetite  and  his  brutal 
passions ;  and  so  if  I  apply  the  word  to  any  par- 
ticular feeling,  or  class  of  feelings,  you  understand 
me  to  mean  that  the  person  to  whom  I  allude,  is 
incapable  of  exercising  those  feelings,  till  he  has 
undergone  a  radical  change  in  his  moral  constitu- 
tion. Precisely  in  the  same  sense  must  we  under- 
stand the  expression  "  dead  in  sins/^  as  used  by 


TESTIMONY  FROM   SCRIPTURE.  Ill 

the  apostle  Paul  in  the  passage  before  us,  and 
elsewhere.  If  it  means  anything,  it  must  mean 
that  the  sinner  is  incapable  of  originating  a  single 
holy  thought,  feeling,  or  desire,  until  the  work  of 
regeneration  is  complete — until  quickened  by  the 
almighty  power  and  grace  of  God,  ^^for  his  great 
love  wherewith  he  loved  us.''  However  much 
enlightened,  however  much  wrought  upon,  by 
whatever  agency  you  please,  in  his  natural  state, 
before  the  regenerating  and  quickening  influence 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  is  applied,  he  is  ^^  dead  in 
sins ;"  as  incapable  of  originating  those  states  of 
mind  that  are  acceptable  to  God,  as  the  stiffened 
corpse  of  giving  life  and  motion  to  itself. 

Again  :  ^^  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  fool- 
ishness unto  him ;  neither  can  he  know  them,  for 
they  are  spiritually  discerned.''  1  Cor.  ii.  14. 
It  requires  no  lengthy  argument  to  show  that  the 
expression,  ^^  natural  man,"  is  applicable  to  the 
sinner  up  to  the  time  of  his  being  made  ^^  a  new 
creature"  in  Christ.  The  most  superficial  reader 
of  the  Scriptures,  the  Sabbath-school  scholar  even, 
need  scarcely  be  told  this.  There  is  but  one  step, 
then,  to  the  conclusion,  that  a  man  must  be 
regenerated  before  he  can  acquiesce  in  the  plan 
of  salvation  as  presented  in  the  gospel.     Until 


112  TESTIMONY  FIPDM   SCRIPTURE. 

this  important  change  takes  place,  everything 
therein  revealed  relating  to  the  salvation  of  the 
soul,  is  foolishness,  and  cannot  be  understood  in  a 
saving  sense, ;  for  there  is  nothing  here  but  what 
is  *'  spiritually  discerned/'  The  same  idea  is 
presented  by  the  apostle  in  the  first  chapter  of 
the  same  epistle.  ^'  The  preaching  of  the  cross,*' 
says  he,  "  is  to  those  that  perish  foolishness,  but 
unto  us  who  are  saved  it  is  the  power  of  Grod." 
What  avail,  then,  all  our  labours  in  the  ministry 
of  reconciliation,  unless  this  healing  and  saving 
power  is  exerted  to  make  efi'ectual  the  truth? 
Any  imaginary  or  supposed  operation  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  short  of  this  will  avail  nothing, 
if  this  single  passage  of  the  word  of  God  be  true. 
The  sinner  will  still  remain  blind,  and  stupid,  and 
dead,  however  loud  may  be  the  external  call, 
however  great  his  privileges  and  the  means  of 
grace  he  is  permitted  to  enjoy.  But  this  is 
not  all. 

^^The  carnal  mind,"  says  Paul,  ^^is  enmity 
against  God,  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of 
God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  Rom.  viii.  7. 
The  expression,  "  carnal  mind,"  as  used  here,  has 
evidently  the  same  application  as  "  natural  man," 
in  the  passage  already  quoted.  The  word  carnal 
throughout   the   New  Testament   is   contrasted 


TESTIMONY  FROM   SCRIPTURE.  113 

with  spiritiialj  and  is  applied  to  man  in  his  unre- 
generated  state,  whatever  may  be  the  influences 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  mind.  ^^  I  would  not 
speak  unto  you  as  unto  spiritual/^  says  Paul  to 
the  Corinthians,  ^^  but  as  unto  carnal ;"  evidently 
meaning  that  he  was  compelled  to  address  them 
as  those  who  had  never  been  converted.  If  you 
will  turn  to  Adam  Clarke's  commentary  on  the 
eighth  chapter  of  Romans,  and  third  of  first  Corin- 
thians, you  will  find  the  same  idea  advanced.  I 
might  cite  to  you  any  number  of  passages  in  proof 
of  the  position,  but  it  is  unnecessary.  It  would  be 
like  attempting  to  prove  that  black  is  not  white,  or 
red  is  not  blue  ]  which,  if  a  man  should  choose  to 
controvert,  there  would  be  no  arguing  with  him. 
Substitute,  then,  in  the  passage  before  us,  an 
equivalent  expression,  and  how  does  it  read? 
"  The  unregenerate  or  unconverted  mind  is  en- 
mity against  God;  is  not  subject  to  the  law 
of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.''  "Where  then,  I 
ask,  is  the  possibility  of  a  mind  in  such  a  state 
originating  any  thought,  feeling,  or  desire,  that 
will  render  it  acceptable  to  God,  and  upon  which 
can  be  conditioned  the  bestowment  of  life  and 
pardon  ? — a  mind,  in  all  the  operations  of  which 
the  ruling  and  regulating  influence  is  enmity  to 
God,  and  a  determined  and  malignant  opposition 
10* 


114  TESTIMONY   FROM    SCRIPTURE. 

to  his  law  ?  And  what  power,  what  influence 
shall  be  brought  to  bear  upon  that  mind  to  over- 
come its  enmity,  and  to  bring  all  its  faculties  into 
subjection  to  the  will  of  God  ?  Is  there  any 
amount  of  grace  or  power  that  would  be  sufficient, 
short  of  that  which  is  efficient  and  invincible  ? 
None.  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  to  God,  and 
cannot  be  brought  into  subjection  to  his  law  till 
its  carnality  is  removed.  Bring  all  the  ingenuity 
and  the  learned  criticism  of  the  living  and  dead 
to  explain  away  the  proper  meaning  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, we  surely  cannot  rise  from  the  contem- 
plation of  this  single  truth  without  being  con- 
vinced that  if  we  are  saved  at  all  it  must  be  by 
''  the  effectual  worhing^^  of  the  power  of  God — a 
power,  which,  in  its  operation  upon  the  sinner's 
heart  in  his  resurrection  from  the  death  of  sin,  ia 
commensurate  with  that  "which  he  wrought  in 
Christ,  when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  set 
him  at  his  own  right  hand  in  heavenly  places,  far 
above  all  principality,  and  power,  and  might,  and 
dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named,  not 
only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to 
come."     Eph.  i.  20,  21. 

"  I  have  planted,  Apollos  watered,  but  God 
gave  the  increase.  So  then  neither  is  he  that 
planteth  anything,  neither  he  that  watereth,  but 


TESTIMONY  FROM   SCRIPTURE.  115 

God  that  giveth  the  increase."  1  Cor.  iii.  6,  7. 
Paul  was  wrong  here,  if  Arminianism  is  right. 
In  order  for  the  passage  to  harmonize  with  such  a 
creed  it  should  read  thus  :  '^  I  have  planted, 
ApoUos  watered,  God  cissiMedj  but  the  sinner 
gave  the  increase.  So,  then,  neither  is  he  that 
planteth  anything,  nor  he  that  watereth,  nor  he 
that  assisteth,  but  the  sinner  that  giveth  the  in- 
crease." This  is  no  sophism ;  it  is  no  caricature, 
but  stands  out  in  bold  relief  as  a  full  and  fair 
expression  of  this  fundamental  principle  of  the 
Arminian  system — a  principle  which  Cumberland 
Presbyterians  have  embraced  as  their  dearest  idol. 
Once  more :  ''  "Work  out  your  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling;  for  it  is  Grod  which 
worketh  in  you,  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his 
good  pleasure."  Phil.  ii.  12,  13.  There  are 
three  important  propositions  contained  in  this 
passage  which  must  be  taken  together.  The  fii'st 
is,  we  are  commanded  to  icorh  out  our  own  salva- 
tion with  fear  and  tremhllng — the  second,  that 
it  is  God  that  worJcs  in  us — the  third,  that  he 
icorJtS  in  us  to  loill  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure. 
If  either  of  these  propositions  is  left  out  of  view, 
or  in  any  way  concealed  or  obscured,  we  do  vio- 
lence c3  the  whole  scheme  of  salvation.  The 
Socinian,  for  example,  gives  prominence   to  the 


116  A  DIFFICULTY  REMOVED. 

fil-st  and  discards  tlie  others.  The  Antinomian, 
on  the  contrary,  takes  only  what  the  Socinian 
rejects.  Both  make  shipwreck  of  the  faith.  The 
Ai'minian  takes  the  first  and  second,  and  discards 
the  third,  in  fact,  if  not  in  form.  He,  too,  foun- 
ders, and  is  lost  in  endless  absurdities.  But  the 
Calvinist,  allow  me  to  say,  the  man  who  endeav- 
ours to  take  the  word  of  God  as  he  finds  it, 
receives  with  meekness  each  of  these  propositions. 
He  endeavours  to  work  out  his  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling,  recognizing  the  fact  that  it  is  God 
that  works  in  him,  not  merely  to  enlighten  and 
persuade,  but  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleas- 
ure.    Here,  and  here  only,  is  safety. 

I  might  multiply,  to  any  extent  almost,  quota- 
tions from  the  Scriptui-es,  each  sufficient  in  itself 
to  enable  us  to  determine  upon  which  side  truth 
is  to  be  found ;  but  I  have  already  prolonged  this 
discussion  further  than  I  had  intended.  There 
are  other  important  aspects  in  which  the  subject 
might  be  viewed,  if  the  limits  of  these  communi- 
cations would  permit.  Enough,  however,  has 
been  said,  I  trust,  to  satisfy  your  mind  of  the 
importance  of  the  principles  involved,  and  that 
the  conclusions  to  which  I  have  arrived  are  safe, 
sound,  and  scriptural. 

I  am  aware  that  many  hard  things  have  been 


A  DIFFICULTY  REMOVED.  117 

said  with  regard  to  the  Presbyterian  doctrine  of 
divine  efficiency  and  human  inability  as  taught  in 
the  standards  of  the  chureh,  I  have  heard  them 
all.  I  have  sifted  them,  weighed  them,  and 
examined  them  in  every  aspect,  and  in  every 
instance  have  found  them  weaJi  and  harmless. 
My  heart  has  been  pained,  too,  in  seeing  the 
Cumberland  Church  gleaning  up  the  blunted  ar- 
rows that  have  so  often  been  hurled  at  the  shield 
of  truth  by  those,  who  have  gone  before  them,  and 
left  their  carcasses  in  the  wilderness  or  upon  the 
field  of  strife.  I  might  multiply  examples  illus- 
trative of  the  ignorance  and  malignity  manifested 
by  them,  in  common  with  Arminians  of  every 
class,  with  regard  to  this  important  and  vital 
doctrine  of  the  gospel ;  one,  however,  will  suffice. 
They  are  not  satisfied  with  the  charge  of  incon- 
sistency, but  go  on  to  say  that  the  Calvinist  who 
commands  and  exhorts  the  sinner  to  repentance 
and  faith,  acts  the  part  of  '^  a  liar''^  and  ^^  juggler" 
— a  liar  because  he  commands  him  to  do  that 
which  he  knows  he  is  not  able  to  do — a  juggler 
because  the  means  employed  are  inadequate  to  th6 
end.  I  ask,  in  reply,  was  Peter  a  liar,  when  he 
said  to  the  woman  of  Joppa,  "  Tabitha,  arise," 
who  having  been  sick  had  died,  and  was  washed 
and  laid  out  for  burial  ?    Was  the  blessed  Saviour 


118  A   DIFFICULTY  REMOVED. 

a  liar  and  a  juggler  when  he  stood  at  the  grave  of 
one  who  had  been  dead  four  daysj  and  cried  *^  with 
a  loud  voice"  to  the  putrefying  corpse,  "  Lazarus, 
come  forth  V*  AVhat  blasphemy  is  here  involved 
in  the  charge  so  often  brought  by  the  Cumberland 
Church  and  the  whole  body  of  Arminians  I — I 
speak  with  reverence  and  aflfection.  My  feelings 
would  urge  me  to  say  more,  but  I  must  forbear.  A 
single  thought  and  I  will  close  this  communi- 
cation. 

The  ambassador  of  Christ,  as  you  yourself  ac- 
knowledge, must  be  a  man  given  to  prayer  as  well 
as  to  the  ministration  of  the  word.  With  this 
admission  is  answered  every  objection  that  is 
urged  against  the  much  despised  and  caricatured 
doctrine  of  inability.  As  Peter  knelt  and  prayed 
for  life-giving  power,  before  he  commanded  the 
dead  to  arise ;  and  as  Christ  lifted  up  his  eyes  to 
heaven  in  devout  supplication,  at  the  grave  of 
Lazarus,  before  the  omnipotent  word  went  forth 
from  his  lips ;  so  must  we,  as  we  exhort  those  who 
are  "  dead  in  sins''  to  "  arise''  and  "  come  forth" 
to  a  new  life  of  repentance,  obedience,  and  faith. 
As  the  prophet  Ezekiel  not  only  exhorted  the 
bleaching  bones  of  the  valley  to  "  hear  the  word 
of  the  Lord,"  but  prophesied  also  to  the  winds, 
and  prayed  that  the  breath  of  heaven  might 


DOCTRINE   OF   ABILITY  ABANDONED.      119 

breatlie  upon  the  slain ;  so  must  those  who  carry 
the  message  of  life  to  the  dead,  whose  "  bones  are 
dried/'  whose  "  hope  is  lost/'  till  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  breathe  upon  them  that  they  may  live.  The 
exhortation  to  the  sinner  to  "  turn  from  his  evil 
ways/'  must  not  only  be  presented  to  the  mind, 
and  pressed  home  to  the  heart  and  conscience,  but 
at  the  same  time  accompanied  by  the  humble  and 
devout  prayer,  ^'  turn  thou  us  unto  thee,  0  Lord, 
and  we  shall  be  turned."  If  we  could  but 
breathe  this  one  sentiment,  if  we  could  but  feel 
it  in  all  its  force,  it  would  prepare  our  hearts  for 
receiving  with  meekness  and  submission  many  of 
the  despised  and  rejected  doctrines  of  the  gospel. 
Your  affectionate  son. 


LETTER  XI.. 

ARMINIAN  DOCTRINE  OF  ABILITY  ABANDONED — 
STILL  IN  THE  WILDERNESS — STEPS  RETRACED 
— CALVINISM   ADOPTED   IN    FULL. 

Dear  Father  : — I  have  said  enough,  I  trust, 
to  satisfy  your  mind  that  the  position  occupied  by 
the  Cumberland  Church  in  common  with  the 
whole  body  of  Arminians,  with  regard  to  the 
ability  and  agency  of  the  sinner  in  conversion, 
is  involved  in  inextricable  difficuLies — diflGiculties 
far  greater  than  can  possibly  be  urged  against 
the  opposite  view,  even  by  its  bitterest  enemies. 
I  have  said  that  it  is  calculated  to  lead  the  church 
into  the  wildest  extravagance,  as  shown  in  the 
operations  of  those  who  have  made  it  their  main 
stand-point ;  that  it  tends  to  the  most  dangerous 
and  ruinous  error ;  that  it  is  opposed  to  the  mer- 
ciful and  gracious  terms  of  the  covenant  of  grace ; 
and  that  it  is  contradicted  by  every  passage  of 
Scripture,  when  considered  in  its  proper  meaning, 
that  has  any  reference  at  all  to  the  subject.  If 
you  will  follow  out  the  train  of  thought  intro- 
(120) 


DOCTRINE   OF   ABILITY  ABANDONED.      121 

duced  under  each  of  these  heads,  you  will  find 
that  I  am  right. 

It  was  such  difficulties  and  absurdities  that, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  pressed  upon  me  while 
I  occupied  this  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Ar- 
minian  system  as  my  main  stand-point  in  theology. 
I  was  again  in  trouble ;  my  mind  became  unset- 
tled, and  I  found  no  other  way  of  ridding  myself 
of  the  dangers  that  environed  me,  but  by  aban- 
doning the  doctrine  entirely.  I  did  so,  but  not 
without  a  lingering  hope  of  finding  the  middle 
way  somewhere.  To  call  up  a  figure  already  in- 
troduced, the  woodman's  implements  were  again 
my  companions.  Camp-fires  were  again  kindled 
in  the  unexplored  and  untrodden  regions  of 
thought.  I  had  already  acquired  some  experience 
in  such  explorations,  and  spared  neither  pains 
nor  labour  in  the  work.  Every  possible  means 
was  employed  to  find  some  eligible  point  beyond 
the  great  city  of  Universal  Redemption,  as  a 
substitute  for  the  one  I  had  been  compelled  to 
abandon,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  Many  a  beautiful 
ridge  was  discovered  that  promised  for  a  time  a 
pleasant  and  continuous  route,  but  they  all  either 
led  the  deluded  traveller,  delighted  with  the 
grandeur  of  the  scenery,  to  the  precipitous  clifi^, 
or  sloped  ofi"  into  interminable  swamps,  where 
11 


122  STILL  IN   THE   WILDERNESS. 

those  who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  enter  them,  are 
left  to  flounder  in  mud  and  mire  without  ever 
finding  a  solid  basis  upon  which  to  stand  and 
breathe  safely  and  freely. 

While  my  mind  was  operated  upon  as  be- 
fore narrated,  I  was  compelled,  on  philosophical 
and  scriptural  grounds,  to  yield  assent  to  the 
doctrine  that  saving  faith  is  a  holy  act  or  exercise 
of  the  mind,  and  can  in  no  sense  proceed  from  a 
corrupt  and  unregenerate  heart.  I  was  therefore 
compelled  to  abandon  the  Arminian  position,  and 
receive  faith  as  one  of  the  consequences,  instead  of 
a  condition,  of  regeneration,  as  one  of  the  essential 
and  necessary  fruits  of  the  Spirit  in  his  saving 
work  upon  the  heart.  I  still,  however,  sought  for 
a  place  in  some  exercise  of  mind  prior  to  regene- 
ration where  the  so-called,  '^self-determining 
power  of  the  wilF'  could  operate,  independent  of 
the  sovereign  and  efficient  agency  of  the  Spirit 
of  Grod.  While  prosecuting  my  investigations  on 
this  point,  I  had  occasion  to  examine  Dwight's 
Theology.  I  read  with  interest  and  profit  his 
seventy-fifth  sermon  on  the  "  antecedents  of 
regeneration."  After  presenting  in  a  forcible 
manner  the  exercises  of  the  sinner's  mind  in  con- 
viction, he  closes  his  sermon  with  the  following 
paragraph :  "  In  the  struggle  thus  continued,  and 


STILL  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  123 

thus  earnestly  conducted,  he  learns  how  obstinate 
his  sinful  dispositions  are,  and  with  what  hopeless 
difficulty  they  are  to  be  overcome.  Convinced  at 
length  that  all  his  efforts  must,  without  the  imme- 
diate assistance  of  God,  prove  entirely  vain,  he 
casts  off  all  his  dependence  on  himself,  and  turns 
his  eye  to  Grod,  with  the  feelings  of  Peter  when 
beginning  to  sink,  and  cries  out  in  his  language, 
'^Lord,  save  me,  or  I  perish."  Here,  said  I,  is 
the  proper  place  for  the  self-determining  power  to 
operate — here  is  the  place  where  the  will  of  man 
puts  forth  its  efficient  and  self-determined  act  in 
deciding  for  God  and  for  heaven.  It  flashed  upon 
my  mind  at  first  with  a  dazzling  and  winning 
brightness.  I  hailed  it  as  a  new  and  important 
discovery  in  theology,  as  one  pregnant  with  sound, 
wholesome,  and  popular  doctrine )  but  alas,  it  was 
soon  found  to  be  embarrassed  with  all  the  dangers, 
difficulties,  and  absurdities  that  I  have  already 
rehearsed.  I  found,  indeed,  the  exercises  of  the 
sinner's  mind  under  conviction  as  Dwight  and 
other  Calvinistic  writers,  and  often  even  Ar- 
minians  have  recorded  them,  but  was  at  last 
forced  to  admit  that  back  of  those  exercises  there 
must  be  a  divine,  a  sovereign,  an  efficient,  and 
omnipotent  agency  at  work. 

Having  been  led  to  the  adoption  of  this  all- 


124  STILL   IN   THE   WILDERNESS. 

important  and  vital  doctrine  of  the  sovereignty 
and  efl&cicnt  agency  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the 
salvation  of  the  soulj  there  was  but  one  alternative 
left.  I  had  either  to  abandon  the  idea  of  ever 
finding  a  continuous  route,  a  complete  si/stcm  of 
truth,  or  to  retrace  my  steps  for  the  point  I  had 
left  in  the  beaten  road  of  Calvinism,  and  follow  it 
as  God  might  give  me  faith  and  strength.  I  had 
either  to  die  in  the  wilderness,  or  encounter  "  the 
giants,*'  "  the  Emims,''  and  "  the  Anakims,"  of 
which  I  had  so  often  heard,  from  those  who  loved 
^'  the  onions''  and  "  the  garlic"  of  an  earthly 
creed  more  than  the  clustering  fruits  of  a  sound 
theological  system.  Which  shall  it  be  ?  You  may 
better  imagine  the  mental  suffering  and  conflict 
of  feeling  through  which  I  passed,  in  answering 
this  question,  than  I  can  describe.  There  was 
the  warmest  filial  regard  and  affection  for  others 
that  held  me  bound  as  by  some  strange  spell; 
there  was  pride  that  would  lash  me  into  some  still 
wilder  visions  than  any  that  had  yet  entered  my 
mind ;  there  were  fears  and  unbelief  that  would 
deter  me  from  encountering  the  imagined  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  of  the  ulterior  regions  of 
Calvinism.  Love,  pride,  fear,  and  hope,  were  all 
united  in  urging  me  in  one  direction,  while  the 
strongest  convictions  of  duty  were  driving  in  the 


STEPS   RETRACED.  125 

opposite — convictions  that  came  as  tlie  whirlwind 
to  the  patriarch  of  Uz — a  whirlwind  from  the 
Lord.  There  came  also  the  same  voice  that  re- 
minded the  patriarch  of  the  ignorance,  the  weak- 
ness, and  the  folly  of  man.  "  Who  is  this  that 
darkeneth  counsel  by  words  without  knowledge  ? 
Shall  he  that  contendeth  with  the  Almighty 
instruct  him?  He  that  reproveth  God  let  him 
answer  this."  What  other  reply  could  I  make  but 
the  patriarch's  answer  :  "  Behold,  I  am  vile ; 
what  shall  I  answer  thee  ?  I  will  lay  my  hand 
upon  my  mouth.  Once  have  I  spoken ;  but  I 
will  not  answer  :  yea,  twice,  but  I  will  proceed  no 
further.''  '^  There  came  a  voice  from  the  storm, 
such  as  the  patriarch  heard,  that  seemed  to  say, 
Grird  up  thy  loins  now  like  a  man.''  It  was  the 
same  voice  that  had  addressed  the  prophet  who 
had  fled  to  the  wilderness  through  fear,  and  hid 
himself  in  the  cave  of  the  mountains  :  "  What 
doest  thou  here,  Elijah  ? — go,  return  on  thy  way 
to  the  wilderness  of  Diimascus."  It  was  enough. 
I  obeyed  the  call.  I  retraced  my  steps.  I  re- 
turned on  my  way,  through  the  wilderness  of 
Universal  Kedemption  and  Sufficient  G-race — the 
wilderness  of  Arminianism — to  the  point  I  had 
left  in  the  Calvinistic  route.  I  read  again  the 
oracles  of  God,  and  found  that  the  whole  Calviu- 
11* 


126    CALVINISM  ADOPTED  IN  FULL. 

istic  system,  as  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures  of 
divine  truth  and  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  was  involved  in  the  principles  I  had 
already  imbibed,  as  before  related. 

There  was  but  one  path  in  which  I  could  travel 
with  any  safety  or  comfort  to  myself  I  entered 
it  with  the  determination  to  follow  wherever  truth 
might  lead  the  way.  The  doctrines  of  original  sin 
and  a  vicarious  atonement,  led  me  on,  as  the  cloud 
by  day  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night  of  the  camp 
of  Israel.  I  followed  on  as  those  who  were  not 
permitted  to  settle  in  the  mountains  of  Edom,  and 
who  had  seen  the  carcasses  of  the  generation  that 
had  preceded  them,  fall  in  the  wilderness  because 
of  their  fears,  their  murmurings,  and  their  unbe- 
lief. Every  difficulty  was  met  and  every  fear  re- 
moved ;  for  there  was  nothing  to  fear.  The  fabled 
giants  and  hydra-headed  monsters  of  which  I  had 
so  often  heard  were  nowhere  to  be  found :  the 
walled  cities  and  ramparts  of  the  enemy  fell  as 
the  walls  of  Jericho  before  the  blast  of  the  ram's 
horn,  in  the  mouth  of  the  Levite ;  every  difficulty 
and  danger  disappeared  before  the  light  of  truth. 
The  vine-clad  hills  and  vales,  the  fields  of  olives, 
the  inviting  gardens  of  pomegranates  and  figs  were 
before  me.  I  entered  them,  and,  for  the  first 
time,   experienced   the  pleasure  of  tasting  the 


CALVINISM  ADOPTED  IN  FTLL.     127 

rich  and  soul-satisfying  fruits  of  a  sound,  safe, 
healthy,  and  consistent  system  of  theological 
truth. 

What  an  hour  of  triumph  was  that  to  the  trem- 
bling faint-hearted  Jew,  when  the  Jordan  rolled 
back  its  sacred  tide  for  him  to  enter  and  possess 
the  land  he  had  so  long  sought  I  What  a  J03rful 
hour  was  that,  when  for  the  first  time  he  was 
permitted  to  celebrate  the  feast  of  the  Passover, 
and  to  eat  of  the  old  corn,  the  unleavened  cakes, 
and  the  fruits  of  the  land  !  But  these  did  not 
experience  greater  joy  upon  that  day  than  did  I, 
when  for  the  first  time  it  was  my  privilege  to  eat 
of  the  old  corn,  the  unleavened  cakes,  and  the 
fruits  of  scriptural  Calvinistic  truth  as  gathered 
by  my  own  hands  from  the  ripening  fields.  My 
only  sorrow  was,  that  many  with  whom  my  heart 
still  lingered  with  the  fondest  and  tenderest  af- 
fection were  yet  in  the  wilderness,  and  doomed 
perhaps  the  remainder  of  their  days  to  wander 
over  its  trackless  waste,  vainly  in  search  of  that 
which  no  where  existed.  But  I  forbear  pressino- 
the  analogy  further.  You  will  pardon  me  in  its 
use.  Convinced  as  I  was,  that  the  sentiments  I 
had  adopted  were  the  eternal  truths  of  God,  upon 
which  are  anchored  all  our  hopes,  my  feelings 
toward  those  whom  I  had  left  behind  could  not  be 


128    CALVINISM  ADOPTED  IN  FULL. 

otherwise.  I  know  from  experience  something 
of  the  strength  of  religious  prejudice — of  preju- 
dice fronted  by  distorted  views  of  the  truth,  and 
backed  by  the  secret  workings  of  the  pride  of  the 
human  heart — and  have,  therefore,  learned  to 
regard  with  sympathy  and  charity  those  who  are 
made  its  unfortunate  victims. 

Your  affectionate  son. 


LETTER  XII. 

DOCTRINES      INVOLVED      IN      THOSE      ALREADY 

STATED — ELECTION — DEFINITE   ATONEMENT 

CONFIRMED    BY    SCRIPTURE — OBJECTIONS   AN- 
SWERED. 

Dear  Father  : — If  my  time  and  limits  would 
permit,  I  would  like  much  to  enter  into  a  more 
full  and  satisfactory  discussion  of  the  several 
points  I  have  so  hastily  presented,  and  many 
more  that  I  shall  be  compelled  to  leave  untouched. 
My  object  has  been,  however,  simply  to  give 
prominence  to  a  few  of  the  leading  doctrines  of 
the  Calvinistic  system  which  have  been  most  as- 
sailed by  its  enemies.  Growing  out  of  these  plain 
doctrines  of  the  gospel,  there  are  several  import- 
ant truths  which  it  becomes  necessary  for  me  to 
notice. 

From  the  doctrine  of  imputation,  as  I  have 
before  stated,  flows  the  doctrine  of  a  vicarious 
atonement.  They  both  stand  or  fall  together. 
Let  the  doctrine  of  the  imputation  of  Adam's 
sin  to  us  be  once  rejected,  and  the  doctrine  of  the 
imputation  of  our  sins  to  Christ  must  go  too,  and 

(129) 


130  DOCTRINES  INVOLVED. 

also  of  his  righteousness  to  us,  and  with  these 
must  go  by  the  board  also  the  only  foundation  of 
the  Christian's  hopes,  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the  law,  and  when 
this  is  gone  there  is  nothing  left  worth  contending 
for.  These  three  aspects  of  the  doctrine  of  im- 
putation God  himself  has  joined  together,  and  no 
man  can  put  them  asunder,  without  destroying 
the  whole  gospel  scheme,  and  making  shipwreck 
of  his  faith.  They  are  the  mighty  links  in  the 
chain  that  terminates  in  the  doctrine  of  justifi- 
cation by  faith — the  anchor  that  holds  the  soul 
steadfast  and  safe  in  all  its  peaceful  moorings. 
"As  by  one  man's  disobedience,''  says  Paul, 
^^the  many  were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obe- 
dience of  one  shall  the  many  be  made  righteous." 
From  this  plain  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  im- 
putation as  connected  with  the  nature  of  the 
atonement,  it  follows  that  it  is  definite  in  its  pro- 
visions. Nothing  else  can  save  from  Universalism 
the  Arminian  as  well  as  the  Calvinist  who  looks 
at  the  substance  as  well  as  the  names  of  things. 
And  from  the  single  word  vicaricnis  that  enters 
into  each  of  their  creeds — from  the  single  idea 
advanced  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  "  surely  he  hath 
borne  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows  f'  and  by 
the  apostle  Peter,  in  speaking  of  the  suflferings  of 


.      JELECTION.  131 

Christ,  "who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his 
own  body  on  the  tree'^ — from  this  grand  cardinal 
feature  of  the  gospel,  upon  which  every  Chris- 
tian's faith  must  fasten,  may  be  evolved  the  whole 
Calvinistic  system — the  whole  scheme  of  salvation 
by  grace  according  to  the  full,  the  free,  and 
definite  provisions  of  the  pui'chase  made  upon 
the  cross. 

Again,  from  this  view  of  the  nature  and  extent 
of  the  atonement,  and  also  from  the  doctrine  of 
divine  efficiency  which  I  have  discussed  at  some 
length,  flows  the  doctrine  of  election — a  doctrine 
against  which  the  pride  of  the  human  heart  has 
hurled  many  a  harmless  and  blunted  shaft.  It  is 
a  doctrine,  too,  that  not  only  flows  from  what  has 
gone  before  by  a  logical  sequence,  but  is  also  con- 
firmed by  the  plain  and  direct  testimony  of  the 
word  of  Grod,  and  is  there  made  a  subject  of  the 
most  intense  joy  and  the  highest  praise.  "  Blessed 
be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,'' 
says  Paul  to  the  Ephesians,  "who  hath  blessed 
us  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly  places 
in  Christ ;  according  as  he  hath  chosen  us  in  him, 
before  tlie  foundation  of  (lie  world^\k\3X  we  should  be 
holy  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love  ;  having 
'predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of  children,  by 
Jesus  Christ,  to  himself,  according  to  the  good 


132  ELECTION.     ' 

pleasure  of  his  wiM,  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of 
his  grace  wherein  he  hath  made  us  accepted  in 
the  Beloved,  in  whom  we  have  redemption  through 
his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  accordvng  to  the 
riches  of  his  graced  Eph.  i.  3-7.  Could  lan- 
guage be  less  ambiguous?  could  anything  be 
plainer  than  the  doctrine  here  presented  ?  But 
to  make  it,  if  possible,  still  more  clear  and  em- 
phatic, he  adds,  "  in  whom  also  we  have  obtained 
an  inheritance,  heing  predestinated  according  to 
the  purpose  of  him  who  loorheth  all  things  after 
the  counsel  of  his  own  will,  that  we  should  be  to 
the  praise  of  his  glory."  vs.  11, 12.  The  whole 
chapter,  and  the  one  following,  are  full  of  instruc- 
tion upon  this  important  doctrine ;  and  as  I  read 
by  the  light  that  now  shines  upon  the  sacred 
page,  I  cannot  see  how  it  can  possibly  be  rejected 
by  the  candid  and  prayerful  inquirer  for  truth. 
Admitting,  for  a  moment,  the  doctrine  to  be  true, 
I  ask,  could  it  have  been  expressed,  even  by  an 
inspired  writer,  in  language  more  clear,  more 
emphatic,  more  forcible,  or  more  elevated  ?  Ad- 
mitting, I  say,  the  doctrine  of  election  to  be  true, 
need  a  single  word  of  the  passage  be  altered  ? 
Could  its  most  rigid  advocates  have  made  it 
stronger  or  more  emphatic  ?  Could  John  Calvin 
himself,  with  his  burning-glass  of  thought,  have 


DEFINITE   ATONEMENT.  133 

thrown  words  to  a  brighter  focus  to  express  Ms 
own  peculiar  views  of  the  subject  ?  If  standing 
by  the  apostle  in  writing  to  his  Ephesian  brethren, 
could  he  have  desired  him  to  have  altered  a  single 
expression,  a  single  word,  or  a  single  thought? 
This,  however,  is  only  one  out  of  the  scores  of 
passages  that  might  be  adduced — passages,  too, 
the  obvious  meaning  of  which  all  the  learning 
of  the  living  and  the  dead  can  never  explain 
away.  And  the  only  possible  way  for  the  Ar- 
minian  to  escape  from  the  plain  yet  hard  and 
unpalatable  doctrines  to  the  carnal  mind  which 
they  contain,  is  for  him  to  close  his  eyes  upon  the 
light,  and  amuse  himself  with  the  goblins  and 
the  ghosts  that  dance  before  his  darkened  and 
disordered  vision.  It  is  only  by  amusing  himself 
with  the  phantoms  of  his  own  creation — by  dwel- 
ling upon  the  imaginary  difficulties  connected 
with  the  Calvinistic  system,  and  by  continually 
and  fiercely  urging  the  most  absurd  objections, 
that  he  is  enabled  to  fortify  himself  in  his  own 
belief,  and  his  unauthorized  and  unsafe  positions. 
Pardon  me  in  the  expression  of  such  a  sentiment. 
It  is  the  sentiment  of  my  heart  as  confirmed  by 
observation  and  my  own  experience. 

The  same  general  remark  applies  to  the  doc- 
trine of  a  definite  atonement,  which  is  intimately 
12 


134  DEFINITE   ATONEMENT. 

and  essentially  connected  with  the  doctrine  of 
election.  We  have  here,  also,  principally  to  meet 
objections  and  imaginary  difficulties  that  are  con- 
tinually being  urged.  It  is  true  we  are  often 
told  in  the  language  of  our  Saviour,  that  "  God 
so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  But  it  requires 
no  small  amount  of  ingenuity  to  torture  even  this 
passage  to  give  countenance  to  the  Arminian  view 
of  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  atonement.  If 
God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only  be- 
gotten Son,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Methodists 
and  Cumberland  Presbyterians  understand  the 
phrase,  why,  I  ask,  is  not  the  whole  world  saved 
by  the  purchase  of  his  death?  The  answer  I 
know  is  that  the  influence  of  Satan  and  the  enmity 
of  the  human  heart  have  defeated  the  purpose  of 
God.  What  strange  language  this !  Are  not 
these  the  very  things  that  Christ  undertook  to 
destroy — the  very  enemies  of  heaven  and  hap- 
piness he  engaged  to  vanquish,  so  far  as  they 
conflicted  with  the  plans  and  purposes  of  the  Al- 
mighty ?  Can  it  be  that  the  counsels  of  heaven 
have  been  defeated  ?  Can  it  be  that  the  blood 
and  the  treasure  that  have  been  spent  for  the 
recovery  of  man  have  been  squandered  for  nought, 


DEFINITE  ATONEMENT.  135 

and  made  the  trophies  of  hell  ?  Strange  counsel 
that,  which  has  infinite  wisdom  for  its  source,  and 
eventuates  in  such  a  result !  And  still  stranger 
love  is  that,  which  will  purchase  the  release  of 
millions  from  captivity,  and  yet  leave  them  in  the 
galling  chains  of  their  bondage,  without  any 
effectual  means  to  apply  the  benefits  of  the  pur- 
chase !  There  is  no  other  way  of  escaping  from 
the  endless  absurdities  into  which  we  are  led  by 
such  a  view,  than  by  returning  and  taking  the 
language  of  the  Saviour  as  he  himself  has  given 
it ;  "  God  SO  loved  the  world  THAT  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son,  THAT  whosoever  believeth," 
&c.  The  divine  love  is  here  plainly  measured  by 
the  nature  of  the  gift,  and  the  extent  of  the  gift 
is  measured  by  its  application.  This  is  the  clear 
and  obvious  meaning  of  the  passage,  and  he  that 
runs  may  read  and  understand  it  thus,  and  all 
the  ingenuity  of  man  cannot  extort  from  it  any- 
thing more. 

In  answer  to  all  that  can  be  said,  however,  we 
have  again  and  again  reiterated  in  our  ears  the 
language  of  Paul  to  the  Hebrews,  where  it  is  said 
that  Christ  was  ^^  crowned  with  glory  and  honour, 
that  he  by  the  grace  of  God  should  taste  death 
for  every  man."  But,  by  referring  to  the  original 
text,  it  appears  that  the  word  man  is  not  there, 


136  DEFINITE  ATONEMENT. 

and  that  the  word  rendered  every^  instead  of 
being  a  distributive  pronoun,  is  most  commonly 
translated  ally  and  has  an  ambiguity  of  meaning 
that  can  only  be  determined  by  the  context,  or 
the  nature  of  the  subject;  as  when  it  is  said  that 
all  Jerusalem  and  Judea  went  out  to  the  preaching 
of  John,  no  one  would  infer  that  every  man,  wo- 
man and  child  were  there ;  and  when  the  woman 
of  Samaria  published  in  the  city  that  she  had 
found  a  man  who  had  told  her  all  that  she  ever 
bad  done,  no  one  understood  her  to  mean  that  he 
had  rehearsed  to  her  every  act  of  her  life.  And 
so  it  is  in  every  case  where  the  word  all  occurs, 
either  in  the  Scriptures  or  in  ordinary  conver- 
sation; the  context  and  subject-matter  must  de- 
termine the  extent  of  its  application. 

I  shall  not  attempt  here  to  notice  the  many 
strange  and  wilful  misrepresentations  that  are 
continually  made  of  election  and  its  associated 
doctrines,  as  taught  in  the  standards  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church ;  nor  shall  I  attempt  at  present 
to  notice  the  many  objections  that  are  continually 
urged  against  those  doctrines.  There  is  one, 
however,  that  demands  of  me  more  than  a  pas- 
sing remark,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  was  urged 
upon  my  attention,  when  a  student  of  theology, 
with  considerable  effect  by  yourself.     You  then 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  137 

presented,  in  a  most  feeling  manner,  the  supposed 
difficulty  under  which  the  Calvinist  labours  in 
reconciling  the  doctrine  of  election  and  a  definite 
atonement  with  the  general  call  of  the  gospel.  I 
might  easily  evade  such  an  objection,  by  calling 
upon  the  Arminian  to  reconcile  his  idea  of  a 
general  atonement  with  the  particular  or  limited 
call  of  the  gospel ;  for  the  call  is  far  from  being 
general,  in  the  sense  in  which  he  uses  the  term. 
Two-thirds,  and  more,  of  the  human  race  have 
never  yet  so  much  as  heard  of  the  name  of 
Christ,  and  are  shrouded  in  the  grossest  ignor- 
ance, idolatry  and  superstition.  "Why  is  it  so? 
Let  the  Methodist  or  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
attempt  to  give  a  rational  explanation  of  such 
facts,  in  the  providence  of  God  to  our  race,  that 
stare  him  in  the  face,  and  he  will  find  himself 
involved  in  far  greater  difficulties  than  those 
which  are  so  often  and  so  blindly  urged  against 
the  Calvinistic  system.  He  will  find  it  a  far  more 
difficult  task  to  reconcile  the  choosing  of  many 
with  the  calling  of  a  few,  than  the  calling  of 
many  with  the  choosing  of  a  few,  and  a  far  easier 
task  to  reconcile  the  latter  with  the  providences 
of  God  and  the  plain  teachings  of  I  is  word,  for 
the  Saviour  himself  has  told  us  that  "  many  a?e 
called  but  few  are  chosen.^' 
12* 


138  OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED. 

But  I  do  not  wish  to  answer  such  an  objection 
simply  by  urging  another  as  an  offset  to  it.  Turn,  if 
you  please,  to  that  remarkable  scene  in  the  temple 
recorded  by  the  evangelist  Luke,  when  the  aged 
and  devout  Simeon,  who  had  long  waited  for  the 
consolation  of  Israel,  took  the  infant  Redeemer  in 
his  arms,  and  with  up-lifted  eyes  blessed  God  for 
having  spared  his  life  and  permitted  him  to  witness 
the  salvation  he  had  prepared.  After  having  pre- 
dicted the  future  greatness  and  glory  of  the  child, 
he  turned  to  Joseph  and  Mary,  and  having 
blessed  them,  said  to  Mary  his  mother,  '' Be- 
hold, this  child  is  set  for  the  fall  and  rising  again 
of  many  in  Israel,  and  for  a  sign  which  shall  be 
spoken  against,  that  the  thoughts  of  many  hearts 
may  be  revealed.'^  Luke  ii.  34,  35.  By  refer- 
ring to  the  original,  or  to  almost  any  critical 
commentary  on  the  passage,  you  will  find  that  the 
word  again  is  not  a  part  of  the  text,  and  does  not 
add  anything  to  the  sense,  but  rather  obscures  it. 
Comment  is  unnecessary.  Language  could  not 
express  in  plainer  terms  the  doctrine  of  election 
and  a  definite  atonement,  as  associated  together, 
than  are  here  used;  nor  could  the  objection  you 
have  so  feelingly  urged  upon  my  attention  against 
those  doctrines  be  more  plainly  and  satisfactorily 
answered.     The  standards   of  the  Presbyterian 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  139 

Church  nowhere  give  countenance  to  the  idea  that 
the  blood  that  was  shed  for  the  redemption  of 
man  is  limited  in  its  value.  And  in  view  of  the 
infinite  sufficiency  of  the  atonement,  and  the  very 
nature  of  the  law  promulgated,  God  has  laid  all 
his  intelligent  creatures  under  obligations  to  love 
and  serve  his  Son.  Even  the  devils  in  hell  are 
eternally  increasing  their  condemnation  for  re- 
fusing that  allegiance.  It  is  in  view  then,  I  say, 
of  the  infinite  sufficiency  of  the  atonement  and 
the  very  nature  of  the  law  promulgated  under  the 
gospel  that  our  Saviour  said  to  his  disciples,  "  go 
ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature.''  And  thus  as  I  go  in  obedience 
to  the  command  as  God  in  his  providence  may 
call,  I  shall  ever  remember  that,  in  the  wise,  the 
holy,  and  mysterious  counsels  of  heaven,  Christ  is 
set  for  the  rise  of  some  and  the  fall  of  others  ; 
and  that  as  I  endeavour  to  urge  the  claims  of  his 
gospel  upon  the  hearts  of  men,  there  are  revealed 
thoughts  and  feelings  that  shall  fui'nish  the  evi- 
dence for  their  acquittal  or  their  everlasting  con- 
demnation in  the  judgment  of  the  great  day. 

Under  such  presentations  of  the  truth  the 
Arminian,  driven  to  his  last  resort,  is  in  the  habit 
of  ui-ging  his  hypothetical  charges  of  the  most 
wanton  cruelty  and  injustice  on  the  part  of  God 


140  OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED. 

to  the  creature.  Let  an  inspired  apostle  answer 
such  an  objector  in  his  summary  way  :  ^'  Nay,  but 
0  man,  who  art  thou  that  repliest  against  God  V 
When  will  men  cease  their  cavils,  and  learn  to 
receive  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  as  the  words  of 
inspiration  ?  How  long,  in  the  very  face  of  the 
plainest  declarations  of  the  Scriptures,  will  they 
continue  to  cavil  and  speculate  as  if  they  were 
wiser  than  God  ?  "  Hath  not  the  potter  power 
over  the  clay,  of  the  same  lump  to  make  one  ves- 
sel unto  honour  and  another  to  dishonour  ?  What 
if  God,  willing  to  show  his  wrath,  and  to  make  hia 
power  known,  endured  with  much  long  suffering 
the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction ;  and 
that  he  might  make  known  the  riches  of  his  glory 
on  the  vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  had  afore  pre- 
pared unto  glory  ?"  Rom.  ix.  20-23.  But  if 
Paul's  summary  answers  to  such  objections  are 
not  satisfactory,  let  us  go  back  to  first  principles. 
Let  us  go  back  to  the  dark  hour  of  the  fall,  and 
see  the  whole  race  lying  under  the  curse  of  a  •*• 
broken  law.  Here  lie  all  the  difficulties  involved 
in  the  whole  subject ;  and  if  the  Arminian  can 
comprehend  why  it  is  that  God  has  permitted  sin 
to  enter  his  moral  government  with  all  its  fearful 
train  of  evils — if  he  can  rid  this  question  of  its 
insuperable  difficulties,  then,  and  not  until  then, 


OBJECTIONS   ANSWEBED.  141 

can  lie  with  any  show  of  consistency  or  propriety 
urge  his  objections  to  any  part  of  the  Calvinistic 
view  of  the  plans  and  purposes  of  God  as  revealed 
in  his  word.  Youi-  affectionate  son. 


LETTEE  XIII. 

ANOTHER  IMPORTANT  DOCTRINE — DECREES  OP 
GOD — FEELING  OP  CUMBERLAND  PRESBYTE- 
RIANS— STATEMENT  OF  THE  DOCTRINE — OB- 
JECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

Dear  Father  : — Before  closing  these  letters, 
it  becomes  necessary  for  me  to  notice  another  im- 
portant doctrine  in  the  Calvinistic  system,  which 
is  also  involved  in  the  views  I  have  already  pre- 
sented, and  which  has  given  me  many  an  hour  of 
anxious  thought.  I  allude  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
divine  decrees,  as  presented  in  the  standards  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  confirmed  by  the  plain 
teachings  of  the  Scriptures,  in  accordance  with 
the  principles  of  both  reason  and  common  sense. 

There  is  no  doctrine,  perhaps,  in  the  whole 
Calvinistic  system  that  is  more  caricatured  and 
misrepresented  by  Arminians  of  every  class  than 
this  J  and  none  against  which  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterians have  manifested  more  violent  and  bitter 
hostility.  A  single  incident  will  serve  as  an 
illustration  of  the  state  of  feeling  that  prevails 
throughout  the  church. 
(142) 


DECREES   OF   GOD.  143 

Before  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  sever  the  many  ties 
that  bound  me  to  the  church  of  my  friends,  my 
home,  and  my  birth,  I  was  strongly  solicited,  as 
you  are  aware,  to  take  charge  of  one  of  her  weekly 
journals.  I  felt  anxious,  then,  to  serve  the 
church  in  some  capacity,  and  to  go  as  far  as  a 
sense  of  duty  would  permit  in  accommodating 
myself  to  your  feelings  and  plans  of  usefulness  in 
declining  life.  But  before  giving  a  definite  an- 
swer either  way,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  unbosom  to 
those  who  had  manifested  so  much  friendship  and 
kindness  my  whole  heart.  I  did  not  wish  to 
keep  back  anything,  notwithstanding  it  might 
disappoint  the  expectation  of  friends  and  the 
fondest  hope  of  a  parent's  heart,  whom  I  had 
learned  to  regard  with  the  warmest  and  tenderest 
affection.  The  very  first  intimation,  however,  of 
my  feelings  and  views  upon  the  subject  of  doc- 
trine, called  forth  in  reply  a  strange  epistle  from 
one  who  occupies  the  highest  position  in  the 
church,  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 
"  Can  it  be,"  says  he,  '^  that  you  too  are  a  convert 
to  the  system  that  teaches  the  blasphemous  doc- 
trine that  God  prefers  the  damnation  of  millions 
of  the  human  race,  and  has  brought  them  into 
being  for  that  special  purpose?  That  he  has 
ordained  and  brings  to  pass  the  very  crimes  for 


144  DECREES   OF   GOD. 

which  he  damns  the  sinner  ?  If,  indeed,  you  have 
any  sympathy  with  that  very  simple  and  very  ab- 
surd system  of  fatality,  an  editor's  chair  in  the 
Cumberland  Church  is  not  the  place  for  you." 
Concerning  the  writer^s  views  of  the  qualifications 
of  a  Cumberland  Presbyterian  editor,  I  have 
nothing  to  say,  but  against  such  abuse  and  cari- 
catures of  those  doctrines  which,  after  mature  in- 
vestigation, I  have  found  in  the  word  of  God, 
I  must  be  permitted  to  enter  a  most  solemn  and 
indignant  protest. 

When  men  become  imbued  with  the  knowledge, 
or  rather  ignorance,  that  puffeth  up,  they  imagine 
in  their  vain  conceits,  that  they  are  able  to  scan 
the  ways  of  the  Almighty,  and  to  understand  the 
secrets  of  his  counsels.  They  will  go  so  far  as  to 
presume  to  dictate  to  G-od,  as  to  what  is  the 
proper  course  for  him  to  pursue  in  the  admin- 
istration of  his  moral  government;  and  in  their 
blinded  zeal  for  creeds  and  confessions,  both 
written  and  unwritten,  will  even  at  times  exalt 
man  to  the  place  of  God,  and  give  him  a  power 
over  himself  which  Deity  cannot  control.  The 
ignorance  and  presumption  of  such  can  only 
be  equalled  by  their  bigotry  and  their  pride. 
And  when  the  eternal  truths  upon  which  rest  the 
throne  of  God  and  the  happiness  of  man  are  held 


DECREES   OF   GOD.  145 

up  to  illumine  the  darkness  of  their  disordered 
vision,  they  have  no  other  means  of  defence  but 
to  close  their  eyes  upon  the  light,  and  raise  the 
cry  of  "  blasphemy''  and  '^  impiety/'  forgetting 
that  they  themselves  are  guilty  of  the  charge, 
while  thus  railing  at  the  purposes  and  counsels 
of  God. 

Turn,  if  you  please,  to  the  third  chapter  of  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  and  read  there 
the  statement  of  the  doctrine  as  held  by  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  and  drawn  from  the  Scriptures 
of  divine  truth  :  "  God,  from  all  eternity,  did  by 
the  most  wise  and  holy  counsel  of  his  own  will, 
freely  and  unchangeably  ordain  whatsoever  comes 
to  pass ;  yet  so  as  thereby  neither  is  God  the 
author  of  sin,  nor  is  violence  offered  to  the  will 
of  the  creatures,  nor  is  the  liberty  or  contingency 
of  second  causes  taken  away,  but  rather  estab- 
lished.'' Is  there  anything  here  condemned  by 
what  is  revealed  ?  Is  not  the  language  of  the 
Scriptures  even  stronger  upon  the  subject  than 
this  ?  As  we  turn  the  pages  of  the  sacred  vol- 
ume, the  doctrine  seems  every  where  to  stare 
us  in  the  face  in  the  most  unqualified  form. 
Take,  for  example,  such  passages  as  the  fol- 
lowing, which  might  be  multiplied  to  an  indefinite 
extent :  "  The  Lord  hath  prepared  his  throne 
o 


146  DECREES   OF   GOD. 

in  the  heavens,  and  his  kingdom  ruleth  over  all/' 
"All  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  reputed 
as  nothing ;  and  he  doeth  according  to  his  will  in 
the  army  of  heaven  and  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth  ;  and  none  can  stay  his  hand  or  say 
unto  him,  What  doest  thou."  "The  counsel  of 
the  Lord  standeth  for  ever,  the  thoughts  of  his 
heart  to  all  generations/^  "What  his  soul  de- 
sireth  even  that  he  doeth.''  "  My  counsel  shall 
stand,  and  I  will  do  all  my  pleasure.''  "'  My 
word  shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please,  and  it 
shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it." 
"  The  king's  heart  is  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord  as 
the  rivers  of  water ;  he  turneth  it  whithersoever 
he  will."  "  The  Lord  hath  made  all  things  for 
himself;  yea  even  the  wicked  for  the  day  of 
evil."  "  A  man's  heart  deviseth  his  way,  but 
the  Lord  directeth  his  steps."  "Are  not  two 
sparrows  sold  for  a  farthing?  and  one  of  them 
shall  not  fall  on  the  ground  without  your  Father. 
But  the  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  num- 
bered." Ps.  cxiii.  19.  Dan.  iv.  35.  Ps.  xxxiii. 
11.  Job  xxiii.  13.  Isa.  xlvi.  10,  Iv.  11.  Prov. 
xxi.  1,  xvi.  4,  9.     Matt.  x.  29,  30. 

Time  would  fail  me  even  to  cite  the  numerous 
passages  bearing  upon  the  subject — passages  which 
the  learning  and  ingenuity  of  man  cannot  wrest 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  147 

from  their  proper  meaning  and  application.  The 
subject,  in  every  aspect  in  which  it  can  be  viewed, 
is  exhaustless.  There  is  scarcely  a  doctrine  re- 
vealed in  the  word  of  God  that  is  supported  by 
clearer  and  more  weighty  evidence,  when  once  it 
is  properly  understood ;  and  yet  there  is  scarcely 
a  doctrine  that  has  been  more  bitterly  assailed, 
and  against  which  more  fruitless  objections  have 
been  brought — objections  which  are  continually 
being  urged,  both  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press, 
in  a  most  unchristian  manner.  Bear  with  me  for 
a  moment,  then,  while  I  call  your  attention  to 
several  of  the  more  prominent  of  these  objections, 
and  the  painful  task  which  I  have  undertaken 
will  be  done. 

It  is  said,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  Calvinistic 
view  of  the  divine  decrees  and  the  administration 
of  the  divine  government,  makes  Grod  the  author 
of  sin.  I  repel  the  charge  and  call  for  the  proof. 
No  Westminster  Calvinist,  no  sound  Presbyterian, 
has  ever  yet  advocated  any  view  that  would  lead 
to  such  a  result.  The  Confession  of  Faith  ex- 
pressly states  that  the  decrees  of  God  are  such  as 
that  he  is  not  and  cannot  be  the  author  of  sin. 
The  affirmation  is  not  contained  in  an  isolated  pro- 
position, but  is  a  part  of  the  doctrinal  formulai-y 
itself.     Read  again  the  language  of  the  Confession 


148  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

of  Faith  as  quoted  above.  "What  more  does  it 
say,  or  what  more  can  it  Le  made  to  say,  than 
that  God  has  wisely,  freely  and  unchangeably 
ordained  whatsoever  comes  to  pass,  yet  so  as  he 
is  not  the  author  of  sin  ?  Let  language  be  taken 
in  its  most  obvious  meaning,  and  the  whole  difl&- 
culty  is  at  once  made  to  disappear.  Let  a  proper 
stress  be  laid  upon  the  three  little  words  which 
are  here  made  emphatic,  and  the  far  famed  ghost 
has  for  ever  vanished,  which  has  so  often  haunted 
the  pathway  of  the  student  of  theology,  and  of 
which  the  Arminian  delights  to  relate  such 
marvels  and  wonders.  I  never  yet  have  seen  or 
heard  of  a  Presbyterian  who  held  that  God 
exerted  any  physical  agency  or  direct  influence 
upon  any  of  his  creatures  to  lead  them  to  sin. 
If  any  Methodist  or  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
will  be  so  kind  as  to  inform  me  of  one,  I  will  lay 
down  my  pen,  and  seal  my  lips  upon  the  subject, 
till  he  is  removed  from  the  pale  of  the  church. 
And  until  this  can  be  done,  the  charge,  that 
Presbyterians  make  God  the  author  of  sin,  applies 
with  equal  force  to  their  own  system.  They  can- 
not deny  that  God  is  the  author  of  all  his  intelli- 
gent creatures,  and  also  of  the  circumstances  that 
gave  rise  to  the  introduction  of  sin  into  his  moral 
government.     But  in  admitting  this  self-evident 


OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED.  149 

proposition,  they  have  admitted  that  in  which  the 
whole  difficulty  is  involved. 

Another  objection  that  is  urged  against  the 
Calvinistic  view  of  the  decrees  of  God  is  that  it 
destroys  the  free  agency  of  the  creature.  I  might 
answer  this  objection  by  asking  what  is  meant  by 
free  agency  ?  This,  however,  would  lead  me  into 
a  discussion  foreign  to  my  present  purpose.  By 
refeiTing  again  to  the  doctrinal  formulary  as 
quoted  above  from  the  Confession  of  Faith,  you 
will  find  that  upon  its  very  face  this  objection  is 
also  clearly  obviated.  We  are  there  plainly  told, 
in  language  that  cannot  be  misunderstood,  that 
the  decrees  of  God  concerning  every  event  are 
made  in  accordance  with  his  wisdom  and  holiness 
of  character,  so  as  therehi/  neither  is  he  the  author 
of  sin,  nor  is  violence  offered  to  the  will  of  the 
creature.  If  anything  more  is  needed,  turn  to 
the  Scriptures.  Listen  to  Peter  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  as  he  charges  home  upon  the  Jews  the 
murder  of  the  Son  of  God :  ''  Ye  men  of  Israel 
hear  these  words;  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man 
approved  of  God  among  you  by  miracles,  and 
wonders,  and  signs,  which  God  did  by  him  in  the 
midst  of  you,  as  ye  yourselves  also  know;  him 
being  delivered  by  the  determinate  counsel  and 
foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  have  taken  and  by 
13* 


150  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

wicked  hands  have  crucified  aud  slain. '^  Acts 
ii.  22,  23.  Here  is  a  clear  case  where  the  act 
and  the  manner  of  the  act  had  been  fixed  by  "  the 
determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God," 
and  yet  it  was  done  freely,  and  with  wicked  and 
cruel  hands.  But  this  is  not  the  only  case.  I 
might  turn  over  the  leaves  of  the  Bible  at  random, 
and  upon  every  page  almost  find  an  illustration 
of  the.  same  principle.  Nothing  can  be  made 
plainer  than  that  God  ordains  the  time,  the  place, 
and  the  circumstances  of  events,  and  yet  leaves 
men  free  in  acting  while  they  are  bringing  to  pass 
what  he  has  wisely  ordained.  The  Arminian  tells 
us  there  is  a  difficulty  here  that  he  cannot  com- 
prehend. Is  this  any  reason  why  the  plain  teach- 
ings of  the  Bible  should  be  rejected,  and  ex- 
changed for  the  vain  and  foolish  imaginations  of 
men  ?  Upon  the  same  principle  we  might  reject 
every  important  doctrine  that  God  has  revealed 
to  man. 

But  if  the  Arminian  wishes  to  make  the  limited 
faculties  of  a  fallen  and  corrupted  worm  a  standard 
by  which  to  measure  the  purposes  and  ways  of 
the  Almighty,  he  must  look  well  to  his  own 
system.  There  is  a  beam  in  his  own  eye  which 
must  be  removed,  before  he  can  see  clearly  to  take 
the  mote  from  his  brother's  eye.     The  same  diffi- 


OBJECTIONS     ANSWERED.  151 

culty  he  is  urging  against  the  Calvinistic  view  of 
the  divine  sovereignty  and  decrees  cleaves  to  his 
own;  and  in  condemning  his  brother  he  is  con- 
demning himself.  The  foreknowledge  of  God 
presents  the  same  difficulty.  John  Wesley,  the 
founder  of  Methodism,  saw  it  and  was  frank 
enough  to  acknowledge  it.  Adam  Clarke,  the 
Sampson  and  the  Hercules  of  leaVning  among  his 
followers,  saw  it,  and  was  led  to  the  denial  of  one 
of  the  essential  attributes  of  God,  which,  if  we 
were  disposed  to  retaliate  upon  the  enemies  of 
Calvinism  with  their  own  weapons,  we  might  in 
truth  pronounce  to  be  "  a  libel  upon  Deity ;"  for 
what  can  be  more  essential  in  an  architect  in 
rearing  a  massive  building,  than  to  know  whether 
it  will  stand  or  fall,  especially  if  its  tenants  are 
liable  to  be  buried  in  its  ruins  ? 

I  am  aware,  however,  that  an  attempt  is  made 
by  many  to  show  an  imagined  difference  between 
the  consequences  of  foreknowledge  and  foreordi- 
nation ;  but  it  is  far  from  being  satisfactory.  A 
distinction  can  easily  be  drawn  between  the  two 
when  viewed  with  reference  to  the  mind  of  man, 
whose  knowledge  is  drawn  from  experience  and 
observation,  and  who  reasons  from  cause  to  effect 
over  which  he  has  no  control ',  but  in  the  mind 
of  God,  the  great  First  Cause  or  Creator  of  all 


152  OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED. 

things,  the  one  necessarily  involves  the  other. 
For  example,  I  am  as  certain  that  the  sun  will 
rise  to-morrow  as  I  can  be  of  any  event — though 
of  this  I  am  not  absolutely  certain ;  for  the  fiat 
of  God  may  unhinge  the  universe  before  the 
morning  light — but  God  forsees  it  with  perfect 
vision  and  with  absolute  certainty,  because  he  has 
foreordained  it.  .  Again,  the  prophet  Isaiah  fore- 
saw through  a  long  vista  of  years  the  sufi"erings 
of  Christ,  yet  he  cannot  in  any  sense  be  said  to 
have  foreordained  them;  but  God  who  sent  his 
Son  into  the  world  for  the  redemption  of  man, 
and  raised  up  Pilate  and  Herod,  the  Gentiles  and 
people  of  Israel,  was  able  to  throw  the  burning 
picture  upon  the  vision  of  the  prophet,  because 
he  hsid  foreordained  that  they  should  be  gathered 
together  to  do  whatsoever  his  hand  and  counsel 
determined  before  to  be  done.  Acts  ii.  23; 
iv.  27,  28. 

I  am  ready  to  concede  that  there  is  a  wide  dif- 
ference between  foreknowledge  and  foreordination 
when  viewed  with  reference  to  finite  beings ;  but 
in  the  mind  of  God,  I  say,  the  one  necessarily  in- 
volves the  other.  If  I  am  certain  to  be  saved,  or 
certain  to  be  lost,  and  God  is  the  author  of  my 
being,  a  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  foreordination  or 
even  of  foreknowledge  itself,  does  not  free  the 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  153 

subject  of  a  single  difficulty.  In  fact  each  denial 
serves  only  to  multiply  and  increase  the  difficul- 
ties ten-fold. 

The  whole  subject  of  the  divine  decrees  is  in- 
volved in  two  simple  questions,  which  every  one 
is  doubtless  prepared  to  answer.  First,  did  God 
when  about  to  exert  his  creative  power  in  bringing 
into  existence  a  universe  of  creatures,  comprehend 
in  his  infinite  mind  a  perfect  plan  of  his  work  ? 
And  second,  is  the  existing  state  of  things  in  ac- 
cordance with  that  plan  ?  If  a  man  can  answer 
both  of  these  questions  in  the  affirmative,  he 
stands  upon  Calvinistic  ground;  if  in  the  negative, 
he  has  no  foot-hold  either  for  an  Arminian  or  any 
other  intelligible  creed.  If  an  omniscient  God 
has  no  plan  of  his  work,  or  if  the  existing  state 
of  things  is  not  in  accordance  with  that  plan, 
where,  I  ask,  is  the  goal,  short  of  the  denial  of 
the  most  essential  attributes  of  the  divine  char- 
acter ?  And  that  goal  many  in  the  Cumberland 
Church,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  those  who 
have  gone  before,  have  already  reached.  They 
tell  us,  as  do  Arminians  of  almost  every  class, 
that  both  the  wisdom  and  the  power  of  God  have 
been  exhausted  in  endeavouring  to  prevent  the 
introduction  of  sin  into  his  moral  government, 
and  to  defeat  the  machinations  of  devils  and  those 


154  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

in  rebellion  against  him,  and  yet  he  himself  is 
defeated  !  Heathen  fatality  is  often  charged  upon 
the  Calvinistic  system  -,  but  here  it  is  in  its  worst 
possible  form.  Jupiter  while  he  was  under  the 
dominion  of  the  Fates  still  held  an  empire  over 
mortals;  but  an  all-wise  and  omnipotent  God  is 
here  brought  under  the  dominion  both  of  the 
Fates  and  of  mortals  too. 

It  was  such  strange  absurdities  in  the  Arminian 
system  that  pressed  upon  me  and  drove  me  to  the 
stronghold  of  the  sovereignty  of  God,  "  who  doeth 
according  to  his  will,  in  the  army  of  heaven  and 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  whose  hand 
none  can  stay,  or  say  unto  him,  What  doest  thou  V 
Dan.  iv.  35. 

Your  afifectionate  son. 


LETTER  XIV. 

SUMMARY   PROPOSITIONS — CONCLUSION. 

Dear  Father  : — I  have  endeavoured  to  present 
in  as  clear  and  brief  a  manner  as  possible,  some 
of  the  operations  of  my  mind,  upon  a  few  points 
of  doctrine  that  divide  the  church,  in  reaching  the 
position  that  I  now  occupy.  Much  remains  to  be 
said.  Subjects  of  the  deepest  interest  and  im- 
portance are  opened  out  before  me,  which  I  would 
gladly  present  in  addition  to  what  has  already 
been  said ;  but  I  must  forbear.  I  have  already 
continued  these  letters  longer  than  I  intended 
when  I  commenced.  Enough  has  been  said,  I 
trust,  to  satisfy  you  that  I  have  acted  wisely,  at 
least  cautiously,  in  the  change  I  have  made  in  my 
ecclesiastical  relations.  I  wish,  in  conclusion,  to 
sum  up  what  I  have  written  in  a  few  propositions  ', 
and  would  seriously  and  affectionately  urge  them 
upon  your  attention,  as  you  may  find  leisure  and 
inclination  to  examine  them. 

1.  Arminians  are  without  any  consis- 
tent AND  harmonious  SYSTEM  OE  DOCTRINE. 
It  is  true  that  in  speaking  of  the  doctrines  of 

(155) 


156  SUMMARY   PROPOSITIONS. 

those  who  hold  to  Amiinian  sentiments,  we  are  in 
the  habit  of  using  the  word  system,  but  it  is  only 
as  a  matter  of  convenience  and  courtesy.  Some  of 
those  doctrines  may  sustain  a  logical  connection 
with  others — such  as  the  doctrine  of  falling  from 
grace  and  the  denial  of  divine  efficiency  in  con- 
version and  sanctification — but  Arminianism,  as  a 
whole,  is  a  coat  of  many  colours,  that  has  been 
patched  and  pieced  since  the  days  of  Pelagiiis, 
according  to  the  taste  and  caprice  of  the  man  that 
wears  it. 

2.  Their  principles  directly  and  neces- 
sarily LEAD  TO  THE  MOST  DANGEROUS  AND 
RUiNors  ERROR.  It  requires  not  the  logic  of  an 
Aristotle  or  a  Bacon  to  follow  them  out  to  their 
legitimate  consequences.  He  that  runs  may  read 
them,  though  a  wayfaring  man  and  a  fool  in 
worldly  knowledge,  if  he  has  only  a  few  cor- 
rect principles  to  guide  him,  and  will  open  his 
eyes  to  the  light.  It  is  painful  to  witness  the 
ignorance  and  stupidity  of  men — the^  malignity 
and  opposition  to  the  truth — who  have  learned  to 
misrepresent,  caricature,  and  abuse  Calvinism, 
with  such  bitterness  of  feeling,  till,  like  a  rattle- 
snake in  dog-days,  they  have  become  blinded  by 
the  poison  of  their  own  minds.  It  requires  but 
half  an  eye  to  see,  that  the  view  of  the  fall  of 


SUMMARY   PROPOSITIONS.  157 

man  and  tlie  relation  we  sustain  to  Adam,  as 
found  in  the  standards  of  the  JMethodist  Church, 
vitiate  the  whole  gospel  scheme ;  that  the  princi- 
ples growing  out  of  the  view  there  presented,  lead 
to  fundamental  error  with  regard  to  the  nature  of 
virtue  and  vice,  and  destroy  all  human  accoun- 
tability ;  that  the  nature  of  the  remedy  found  in 
the  same  standards  necessarily  destroys  all  motive 
to  intelligent  action  and  labour  upon  the  part  of 
the  Church  in  the  great  work  before  her ;  holds 
out  no  encouragement  to  prayer ;  degrades  the 
character  of  God  to  that  of  a  debtor  and  apolo- 
gist for  injuries  he  has  done  to  the  creature  3  and 
exalts  the  creature  to  heaven  by  a  kind  of  semi- 
omnipotence  of  his  own.  Such  consequences  as 
these,  I  say,  are  dangerous  and  ruinous.  They 
have  already  been  noticed  in  connection  with 
others,  but  the  half  has  not  been  told. 

o.  There  is  no  way  in  which  those  who 

REJECT  THE  DOCTRINES  OF  THE  CaLVINISTIG 
SYSTEM  CAN  ESCAPE  THE  DIFFICULTIES  AND  AB- 
SURDITIES OF  Arminianism.  Starting  with  the 
Calvinistic  doctrine  of  human  depravity,  as  Meth- 
odist and  Cumberland  Presbyterians  are  compelled 
to  do,  in  form,  if  not  in  fact,  there  is  no  point 
from  which  we  can  diverge  from  the  Calvinistic 
route,  if  we  continue  it  a  single  step,  until  we  get 
14 


158  SUMMARY    PROPOSITIONS. 

beyoud  the  doctrine  of  imputation — until  we  Lave 
found  our  way  through  the  mountain  pass  of 
theology.  Having  got  thus  far,  we  are  compelled 
to  adopt  views  of  the  nature  of  the  atonement  and 
the  moral  condition  of  man^  wholly  incompatible 
with  every  principle  of  Arminianism.  Moreover, 
the  man  who  can  subscribe  to  the  Calviuistic  doc- 
trine of  imputation  cannot,  with  the  least  show 
of  consistency,  urge  a  single  objection  to  any  of 
the  other  parts  of  that  system.  After  swallowing 
and  digesting  a  camel,  it  is  then  too  late  to  begin 
to  strain  at  gnats.  Having  got  thus  far,  there  is 
no  other  alternative  but  to  continue  on,  if  we  wish 
to  escape  the  perils  of  the  wilderness ;  for  every 
difficulty  in  Calvinism  may  be  resolved  into  this 
one  doctrine.  But  if  a  man's  unbelief  and  preju- 
dices are  such  that  he  cannot  subscribe  to  the 
doctrine  of  imputation,  he  must  be  content  with 
following  upon  the  heels  of  Arminianism,  and 
adopting  all  its  errors  and  absurdities ;  or  crowd 
off  into  the  numberless  by-paths  that  lead  the 
deluded  traveller  into  the  ulterior  and  darker 
regions  of  Pelagianism  :  or  he  must  wander  like 
the  Arab  of  the  desert,  who  pitches  his  tent  as 
suits  his  convenience,  lives  upon  his  cameFs  back, 
and  clothes  himself  with  the  spoils  of  the  plun- 
dered merchant. 


summary  propositions.  159 

4.  The  position  of  the  Cumbert^nd 
Church,  in  a  doctrinal  point  of  view,  is 
one  that  cannot  long  be  maintained.  "  The 
middle  way"  is  everywhere  the  watch  cry  of  her 
leaders ;  but  where  is  it  ?  Xo  intelligent  answer 
has  yet  been  given  to  this  question.  The  world 
is  tired  of  waiting.  It  is  true  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith  has  been  mutilated  and 
patched  by  unskilful  hands,  and  published  to  the 
world  as  containing  new  and  important  discoveries 
in  theology — as  containing  some  of  the  prominent 
points  in  the  newly  discovered  middle  route. 
But  something  more  must  be  done  to  save  the 
hopes  and  credit  of  the  Church.  She  has  departed 
from  the  most  important  principles  contained  in 
her  Confession  of  Faith.  Upon  the  floor  of  the 
xissembly,  as  I  have. before  said,  it  has  been  pro- 
nounced "  a  ragged  afiair," — a  sentiment  which  I 
would  not  repeat,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the 
man  who  uttered  it  was  furnished  by  the  same 
Assembly  with  means  and  countenance  to  estab- 
lish a  Church  paper. 

Every  development  made  in  the  history  of  her 
doctrines  shows,  as  I  have  before  said,  a  tendency 
to  the  extremes  of  Armiuianism,  In  proof  of 
this  you  have  not  merely  the  result  of  my  own, 
observation,  but  the  publications  of  the  Church 


160  SUMMARY    TROrOSITIONS. 

SO  far  as  any  have  yet  been  made.  I  have  before 
me  a  book  entitled,  ''A  Plea  for  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church."  Its  author  is  the  lamented 
relative  to  whom  I  referred  in  my  first  letter.  It 
is  a  work  of  some  five  hundred  pages,  and  has  for 
one  of  its  leading  objects,  as  stated  in  the  preface, 
''  to  answer  the  inquiries  so  often  made  as  to  what 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterians  believe,  and  where- 
in they  differ  from  others.'^  Now  turn  to  that 
part  containing  an  "  apology"  to  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  you  will  see  that  the  only  point  of 
difi'erence  in  theology  considered  worthy  of  notice, 
is  with  regard  "  to  the  perseverance  of  the  saints." 
What,  then,  has  become  of  the  Calvinistic  doc- 
trines of  the  fall  of  man,  the  imputation  of  the 
sin  of  Adam  to  his  posterity,  the  imputation  of 
Christ's  righteousness  to  the  believer  in  justifica- 
tion, and  others  I  need  not  mention,  found  in  the 
Cumberland  Confession  of  Faith,  as  taken  verbatim 
from  the  Westminster  ?  They  have  been  gradu- 
ally discarded  and  given  place  to  the  rankest  Ar- 
minianism,  or  something  worse.  The  doctrine  of 
the  final  perseverance  of  the  saints  must  go  too. 
It  is  impossible  for  the  man  who  holds  to  one  or 
two  principles  of  Arminianphilosoph?/,  to  advocate 
such  a  doctrine  with  any  show  of  consistency,  not- 
withstanding it  may  be  found  upon  every  page  of 


CONCLUSION.  161 

the  sacred  volume.  The  doctrine  of  "  falling  from 
grace'^  is  nowhere  found  in  the  Scriptures,  as  you 
yourself  are  ready  to  acknowledge.  It  has  been 
forced  upon  the  Methodist  Church  by  a  singular 
philosophical  and  practical  necessity,  and  the 
Cumberland  Church  must  take  it  also,  or  abandon 
her  philosophy  and  practice. 

5.  The  Calyinistic  system,  as  laid  down 

IN     THE      STANDARDS      OF      THE      PrESBYTERIAN 

Church,  is  the  only  one  that  I  could  find, 

CONSISTENT  WITH  THE  WORD  OF  GOD  AND  WITH 

ITSELF.  That  it  is  a  system,  is  admitted  upon 
all  hands — even  by  its  most  bitter  opponents — 
and  that  it  contains  much  important,  fundamental 
and  saving  truth.  In  this  admission  everything 
is  conceded.  Truth  is  one,  and  indivisible ;  it 
can  no  more  be  made  to  unite  with  error,  to  form 
a  system  harmonious  and  complete,  than  oil  and 
water  can  be  made  to  mingle  together,  their  liquid 
drops.  Light  has  no  fellowship  with  darkness — 
nor  Christ  with  Belial — nor  truth  with  error. 

Here,  then,  is  the  conclusion  of  the  whole 
matter.  In  all  my  investigations  I  have  found 
many  creeds,  but  one  sf/sfem — and  that  is  Calvin- 
ism— a  system,  solid  and  compact  as  the  temple 
of  old,  where  God  displayed  his  presence  and 
glory,  the  stones  and  timbers  of  which  had  all 


162  CONCLUSION, 

been  hewed  and  numbered  at  the  quarry  and 
among  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  so  that  the  most 
inexperienced  workmen  could  j5t  them  together, 
if  the  foundation  was  properly  laid — a  system 
which  I  found,  after  the  most  careful  examination, 
to  be  seamless,  woven  from  top  to  bottom — a 
chain,  whose  golden  links  unite  heaven  and  earth 
together,  and  bind  the  humble  and  contrite  to  the 
throne  of  God. 

For  the  present,  I  will  lay  down  my  pen,  which 
I  can  assure  you  was  taken  up  with  a  trembling 
hand,  and  an  aching  heart.  If  I  have  said  any- 
thing calculated  to  give  offence  to  those  whom  I 
love,  I  trust  you  will  extend  to  me  a  father's 
charity,  and  attribute  all  to  a  praiseworthy  zeal 
for  those  truths  which  have  cost  me  so  many 
painful  struggles  and  such  a  sacrifice  of  friendly 
feeling. 

I  am,  as  ever, 

Your  affectionate  son. 


THE    END. 


Princeton  Theologpcai  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  01144  6806 


